The Story of Team Snorlax
by Ashitaka1110
Summary: Team Snorlax, a team of trainers in the Pokemon universe, get their start in this story. Happens about 10 years after the beginning of the anime. Rated T for Violence, blood and some mild adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

I have seen much in my life, although by your standards my life has not been long. I was born of greed and of villainy, as my father so intended it to be. I revolted though as soon as I saw his true purpose, his true ways. I left and went off alone, first seeking revenge but soon realizing that it was not the way to the peace I so desperately wanted, nor was it a means to receive the answers I wanted perhaps even more desperately. Then I found him. Brian. He was the same boy I grew up watching, the son of his father, of my father. He says this makes us brothers, that our meeting was destined. I know not if this is true, but for now I am with him, his "partner" as he calls me. His brother. This is his, and our, story…

Chapter 1

_Brian: _

A large explosion blasted through my home. At first I was scared; any kid would be; any adult would have been at least concerned. I dropped my Game Boy and ran through my bedroom door. The walls were shaking something terrible and bits and pieces of the gunmetal colored roof and plaster were raining down all around me like artificial hail. It was all I could do to keep my feet beneath me as I stagger-ran down the corridors. All my dad's workers were running around like madmen, shouting things I didn't understand at the time. Yes, I was scared. Then I found my dad at last, feeling that same strange sense of relief as well as dread that I always felt as I approached him. "Dad, what happened? What was all that noise?" My old man spun around and glared at me, his face twisted in fury.

"Not now, boy!" he roared. "What are you doing here? Where's your mother? Run boy, get out of here now!" At this he turned and dashed down one of the long corridors in our home, which was actually his "place of business" as he had always called it. In case you haven't figured it out yet, my childhood was a bit, well, out-of-the-ordinary let's say. I couldn't believe my dad had just run of and left me there in the middle of our crumbling home. Hey, I was thirteen, you know, the age when you realize a parent cares for you about as much as hot lemon juice over a paper cut and yet you're still too naive to believe it. So what could I do? I turned on my heels and ran through the halls like a little demon. My mom came dashing through a door as I neared it and almost hit me. She saw me and grabbed my hand and we began to run towards one of the exits.

"Mom, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"Don't worry honey, everything is going to be okay, we just have to get out of here right now!" she managed to gasp as we went screaming down the halls. The whole building was really shaking now, like a beast in its death throws. I remember being surprised that we were able to run all the way through the place. It was a big place too; several stories tall and the place sat on nearly three full acres of land. I guess it was the adrenaline but I was still pretty impressed at the time. Before I knew it though we were outside and a safe distance away from my old home. We took cover behind some low-lying shrubs in the nearby woods and could do little else but watch our former home shatter before our eyes. Suddenly something caught my eye. I remember it looking like a rocket, like some of the one's I kept in one of my rooms with other fireworks for parties and celebrations. It was bright purple and streamed up into the sky almost to fast to follow. Then it was gone, disappeared from vision or burned up. About fifteen seconds later the entire building exploded. It was so huge it seemed as though we had been bombed in a war or something. I couldn't see much of it because mom grabbed me and fell over on top of me, shielding me from the myriad types of shrapnel flying through the air. After a long time she finally pulled me up and looked me over with concern. She decided I was okay and basically unharmed, at least not in any serious way, and then jumped to her feet and took off running towards the smoldering war zone that used to be our home.

"Brian, stay right there, I'm going to go find your father!" What could I do? I huddled down behind the bushes and was nearly in tears for the next half hour. The sky began to grow dark as night fell, but still my mother did not return. I wondered where she was and after I fully realized that I was alone in the dark with no place to go I did start to cry a little bit. I must have hade tears streaming down my face for ten minutes or more when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I whirled my head towards the noise and could visibly see the bushes shaking. This I didn't need at the time. I crawled backwards across the ground until I hit the shrubbery behind me. I stopped crying for the time being; I guess I was never much of a multi-tasker, so there was no way I could have cried and been petrified at the same instant. The rustling grew louder still as I waited for what my already traumatized mind was sure was the end for me. And then, most unexpectedly and yet most welcome, a small Pokemon popped out of the bushes and made his way towards me. It couldn't have been more than two feet tall or so and was mostly a sort of dark forest green color with a small circle of pale yellow skin showing through just under its jaw of the same color. Its pointed ears were tall, what seemed to be a bit too tall for its head, which was only about the same height as its ears, and its two oval eyes sat perched above the twin tiny pointed teeth protruding from its mouth. It tilted its head and looked at me curiously. I had spent all my life around Pokemon; both of my parents were quite accomplished Pokemon Trainers and all of my dad's employees always had their Pokemon running around the place. I befriended several of them and I suppose that's most likely why I captured and trained the Pokemon that I did all those years later. This particular Pokemon looked anything but vicious, and as it smiled at me it seemed downright friendly. I had never seen any Pokemon like this little guy and had no idea what it was, but it did look familiar. I thought I should try talking to it, so I dried my eyes on my t-shirt's sleeve and inched towards it. It didn't seem spooked and even came a little closer to me. We both cautiously crept forward until we were only about a foot apart.

"Uh…hi…m-my name…is Brian…who are…you?" I managed to stutter. It straightened up and looked me in the eyes.

"Munchlax, lax munch munch lax!" it cried in Pokemon talk, introducing itself.

"A Munchlax? I've never heard of one of you before, but you seem cool. Will you…be my friend?" The little Pokemon looked me square in the eye and then jumped into my lap. It looked at me some more and then smiled brightly.

"Munchlax!" it said enthusiastically, accepting my invite. So I reached into my back pocket and fished around until I found the Poke'ball that I had picked up from inside one of my dad's office spaces a few years ago. It looked a little odd, certainly different than any Pokeball I had ever seen at the time; the bottom was the standard white color below the opening, but the top was blue instead of red, and it had a pair of red stripes on each side on the top half. It was interesting to me and my dad had several big boxes full of them, so I figured he wouldn't miss one. I pressed the button and the Poke'ball enlarged, and then I dropped it on top of the Munchlax's head. The ball opened and the Pokemon was engulfed in bright red light as it was sucked into the Poke'ball. The ball fell to the ground and lay still for a few seconds and then the button returned to its normal color. I picked up the Poke'ball that now had my new friend and partner inside and stared at it for a while. I had always dreamed of this day coming, where I would hold my very first Pokemon. It seemed surreal somehow. I immediately tossed the poke'ball a few feet away from me. It hit the ground and popped open, and in a flash of crimson light my new pal Munchlax emerged. It looked around a little bit and after saying its name a few times ran off into the woods, motioning me to follow. I wasn't sure at first if I should leave, but decided I could trust my new Pokemon and followed it into the forest. I scrambled through the brush as best as I could, picking up more than a few scratches along the way. We traveled for quite some time, I couldn't tell you how long exactly, but eventually we broke through into a meadow surrounded by tall trees and a small pond that was shimmering with the reflection of the moon. Munchlax waddle-ran over to one of the shorter trees and gave is a sharp Headbutt. The old evergreen shook back and forth a bit and then Pecha Berries began to rain down from its many branches. My new little Pokemon gathered a few of them in his arms and then scurried back over to where I had parked myself next to the pond. Munchlax placed a couple of them in my lap and then swallowed the rest of them whole.

"Whoa, do you always eat like that?" I asked, surprised at just how big the small Pokemon could open its mouth for food. "My mom would freak out if I ever started eating like that." My friend just smiled and tossed one arm up into the air.

"Munchlax, Munch!" it cried with a grin.

"Well, thanks for getting those berries for me, I was getting pretty hungry," I said in between bites of the fruit. I picked up Munchlax and sat him in my lap. After I ate three more of the Pecha Berries I was stuffed. "Man, I'm full. I can't eat another bite. Do you want one of these other berries Munchlax?" I asked. Munchlax promptly grabbed all six of them and crammed them into its mouth and swallowed them.

"Munch_lax_!" it yelled happily in my face, spewing bits of the devoured berries on me. Munchlax quickly wiped me off after seeing what it had done and then said its name a few more times. Just then I heard a voice calling my name from back towards the smoldering pile of rubble that was my house. It was faint but I recognized it as my mother's voice. I stood up quickly.

"Hey Munchlax, that sounds like my mom! C'mon, you have to meet her!" My new Pokemon jumped up into my arms.

"Lax, Munchlax!" it screamed with glee. We dashed off into the forest in search of my mother.

_Six Years Later:_

"Forget it old man! I've had it with all of your crap!" I shouted at my father. "You never cared about me or even mom! All you cared about was your business. And now I find out you were lying to us this whole time? You're just a crook!" I clenched and un-clenched my fists as my face continued to burn brighter shades of red. My dad looked about the same as I did, leaning over from behind his desk.

"You ungrateful little wretch! How many years have I put up with you, fed you and let you live in this house? I've spent my good money on you, and with what repayment?" Dad was really hot. Of course, he was usually really hot, yelling at his workers, yelling at me, yelling at mom. "You're worthless to me, just like you're mother! You could never comprehend my plans, my goals and my ambitions! That's why she's gone, she couldn't cut it! I suggest you shut your mouth and go think about how you can become less of a disappointment!" I was about to knock the sense out of him, if he had had any to be knocked out of him. But I was able to contain my rage, at least partially. But I had just had it. There was no way I was taking this anymore.

"Fine! If I'm such a disappointment to you then I'll leave. I wouldn't want to bog down all of your "enterprises" with my worthless attitude!" I spun around and dashed out the door, ignoring my old man's screams of "Get back here!" and "Where do you think you're going?" as I left, and started making my way towards my room on the lower floor. We had rebuilt our home and his office after the explosion four years ago. My dad had survived the explosion. I still curse that fact to this day. I spent most of my free time outside of school hanging out with friends and training my Munchlax. Munchlax was a big help, especially after mom left. She used to cry a lot and then one day, she told me she loved me and walked out the door. I never saw here again. I knew it was my dad's doing. So I hated him even more and my hatred grew through the years. Munchlax was there for me though. I almost can't believe even a Pokemon would stick with a person through all that happened to me, but he did. Munchlax never yelled at me, never hit me, never even got angry at me. It would just jump up into my lap and lay there for a while, listening to me cry, shout or just talk to him. Munchlax really saved me and still was there for me. Although then I didn't call him Munchlax anymore. One day we were having a friendly battle with my friend's Growlith, and wouldn't you know it, Munchlax evolved into a Snorlax. I _knew_ Munchlax had looked familiar when I first met it. Well we won that battle and many more to come too. There wasn't too many big changes, aside from the fact that he got a lot bigger. And he wasn't quite as active as Munchlax had been. It was intriguing though, because I had studied Pokemon as much as anyone else and I for some reason my Snorlax didn't seem to sleep all the time like most do. It sure had the normal Snorlax appetite though, let me tell you. It was about all I could do to keep him fed. But I was really surprised because my Snorlax just seemed to be awake a lot. I'd come home from school and let him out and he would be awake. I'd finish my homework and he would be awake and ready to go outside and walk through the forest. He only seemed to sleep when I went to bed and for the first part of school. I even learned to whistle a little tune and it would wake him up, but I tried not to do that because it got him pretty angry. Snorlax don't seem to appreciate being awoken. I was baffled for a while but eventually I got used to it, and it was actually pretty cool. I mostly just let him roam around the house when I was home, and today was no different. I was tearing through the house and rounded the corner on the second floor near my bedroom and ran smack into Snorlax as it was exiting the room. Well, at least I didn't have a Golem instead. I bounced off of him like a trampoline and fell over onto the hard floor.

"Ooof…owww…" I cried as I slammed into the ground. "Snorlax, are you okay?" Snorlax stomped over and scooped me up and hugged me.

"Snorlax, Lax Snorlax." It said, seeming very concerned.

"Snor…lax…can't…breathe…" I was able to gasp with my limited supply of oxygen. Snorlax immediately put me down and I gasped for some fresh air. Snorlax looked even more concerned and sad now. "Don't…worry buddy I'm…just fine." I wheezed, regaining my breath some. "C'mon," I said, remembering my anger and stamping into my room. "We're leaving." I began to rummage through my room and stuff things into my backpack. Clothes, my sleeping bag from the closet, the Poke'dex my mother bought me a week before she left and about two thousand dollars I had saved from birthdays, Christmas and odd jobs I had been doing for years. I guess I had always knew this day would come, if only subconsciously. I snatched a few more things I thought I might need or didn't want to leave behind and put on my light-weight black jacket. I pulled on my hiking boots and strapped on my belt. Then I grabbed my wristbands from next to my bed. They were these two leather wristbands that I had picked up from a salesman in town about two years ago. They fastened just like watches but each of them had three small circular slots for downsized Pokeballs, you know like how most people carry them on their belts? I thought it was cool and they were only about twenty bucks so I snagged them. I strapped them onto my wrists and filled five of them with five more of those odd Pokeballs my dad had in his office. The sixth space I put Snorlax's ball into and then filled up a duffle bag with food, Potions, Full Heals, cooking utensils and some general first-aid items. I grabbed a map from my desk and then headed out of the room.

"Snorlax, Snor!" Snorlax called. He dropped my blue and white hat onto my head. My lucky hat, I was about to leave it.

"Thanks Snorlax, I had forgotten it. Come on, let's go. It's just you and me now." I said through a few tears. Snorlax nodded silently and followed me at a quick pace down the stairs and through the front door. We were stopped by two of my dad's workers in their uniforms.

"Hold on there, Brian." One of them said holding up a hand to block my path. I backed up a bit. "Your father called down here and told us to stop you and take you up to his office. He wants to talk to you for a while." I didn't back down and I didn't feel like messing around either.

"Get out of my way and let me go, now." I commanded them both, in no mood for taking orders from them.

"Sorry," replied the other. "The bosses orders come first, boy" I didn't much care for these scrubs and was already pretty angry in general. So I decided to take it out on these fools.

"Snorlax, give 'em a Mega Punch!" Snorlax jumped clear over my head and knocked the first one clear across the yard and into the bushes with a glowing fist. It was one of those awe-inspiring things. Like the first time you see those huge bomber planes that look like they weigh as much as a fright train lift gently into the air like a bird. The second guy stepped back and started fumbling for one of his Pokeballs. Snorlax stepped over to him and gave him a solid shot to the gut. The guy didn't even have time to say "Ooof!" before he joined his buddy admiring the shrubbery. Snorlax turned back around to face me and smiled.

"Snorlax, snor snor lax!" it said in obvious satisfaction.

"Nice job, buddy," I said with a grin. I took his Pokeball from where it rested on my left wristband. "C'mon, we can travel faster with you in your ball." Snorlax nodded and with a flash of red light he was back inside his spherical home. I downsized the ball and clipped it back on the wristband and then took off in a quick jog. I had a stop to make before leaving my home town.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Brian:_

The sun was setting, casting a vibrant red and orange glow all over the city, signaling the end of the day, by the time I reached the Pokemon Center. The outside floodlights started to snap on just as I slowed down and strode through the sliding doors. Nurse Joy was behind the front desk typing furiously behind her computer. She gave me a quick glance and then looked up again as her brain clicked and she recognized me. She stopped typing and smiled warmly.

"Brian, how are you tonight? Is Snorlax okay?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, he's just fine Nurse Joy. I just stopped by to tell you that I'm leaving town on a journey with Snorlax. I think we'll head over to a few cities before we leave for Hoenn." I told her, trying not to look like I had been running all the way here with people chasing me. Which was most likely the case too.

"Really, you're leaving?" she exclaimed. "Oh, I'm going to miss you and Snorlax so much. Well, thanks for stopping in to say goodbye." She leaned over the counter and gave me a sincere hug. The most sincere hug I think I'd had in years. "But I understand. I went off on my own for a while with my Pokemon when I was young before I returned here to become a nurse. It was a great time in my life," she smiled again. "Please enjoy yourself and stop by all the Pokemon Centers you can!" I nodded. I hoped she hadn't noticed the way I had been glancing back towards the doors. I needed to get going.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could open a Keeper Account here. I don't have one yet since I didn't get Snorlax from a lab."

"Oh sure! That's a great idea!" she moved back over to her computer and began her fierce typing once again. "What's your trainer number Brian?" she asked after a minute or two.

"1110," I replied after a quick check behind me. "I got registered pretty early when the new system came out."

"Uh-hu…" she mumbled, concentrating on the various things running across her screen. "Let's see…hometown…age, you're 19, correct?"

"Right."

"Okay…do you want your parents to have back-up access to the account?" My eyes widened a bit.

"Uh, no, no, there's no need for that…" She looked over at me.

"Well, you need someone to have backup access to your account in case, well, someone else needs to take care of your Pokemon. Why not your parents?" I gulped and started sweating bullets. What was I going to say? _Well actually, I just found out my dad is a crook and my mom left us a few years ago, so…_ Right, that was happening.

"Well, uh, they don't really like Pokemon too much, umm…it would be a burden on them…" I managed to stutter. Lying to the people I care about. Blasted genes from my old man I guess.

"Okay but you still need someone. Any other people you could trust?" I thought for a moment. There was really only one other in my hometown.

"How about you Nurse Joy? Would you do it for me?" Her eyes brightened and she smiled.

"You would trust me with that Brian? That's so sweet! Of course I'll do it!" I nodded.

"Okay then, it's you!" I responded with a broad smile and another quick check behind my shoulder. Nurse Joy looked about ready to float away. She began typing again. After a minute she stood up and went into the back room behind her. She returned shortly and handed me a card.

"Okay Brian, this is the I.D. card for your account, use this at any Center when you want to access your stored Pokemon," after I slid it into my wallet, she handed me what looked like a small plastic platform. It was red on the top and white on the bottom. On the top there was a small indentation. "This is your transfer pad. If you catch a Pokemon but already have six others with you place the ball on this pad and press '**_send_**'. It will be transported here, okay?" I took the slender T-Pad with a nod and put it in my back pocked with my Poke'dex.

"Okay, thanks a lot Nurse Joy. I…really need to be going now." She smiled again, but this time it was a very sad and strained one.

"Brian, be very careful, okay? I'm going to miss you two so, so much." She embraced me again. "Email me if you ever feel like chatting a bit."

"I sure will. Thanks for…well…everything." I smiled sadly back at her. "I…uh…I gotta go now, so…so…bye."

"Bye Brian, I hope I'll see you again sometime." I could tell she was near crying, and I was just about there myself, so I gave a little wave and turned around before the water works could delay me. Or hurt me. I knew she was watching me as I left. But I just couldn't turn around. I just…couldn't. _Blast you, old man…_ I left the center. The sky was an even more vivid lights display now then when I had first arrived. I looked over my old home town once more before heading north and out of town.

I hadn't gotten too far out of town when night fell. I had entered a lush forest that I had traversed a number of times in my life, but never in the dark. And let me tell you, it was indeed dark. There were only a few stars out and the moon was only a tiny sliver of silver in the sky. After walking for a good twenty minutes I got off the main road and found a small cave hidden behind some bushes after carefully hiking down a steep incline. After I had checked it cautiously for any Ursaring, I let Snorlax out and we ate dinner. Well, I more like snacked while he ate. And ate. And _ate_.

"You know, we're gonna have to start foraging for food for you buddy." I told him with a grin. "I don't have enough money to keep buying you all this food anymore. We're on a budget now, see?" Snorlax looked down at the empty wrappers and cans and realized what I meant. He looked over at me.

"Lax, Snorlax Snor…" he groaned in apology. I patted him on the arm.

"Its okay buddy, I know you're hungry. A lot. Like, all the time. That's okay though, that's the way you are. There's no shame in being who you were made to be, alright?" Snorlax nodded, seemingly in understanding. Then he got up and lumbered over to a tall tree near the cliff wall a few feet from our "campsite". He took hold of the old tree and shook it pretty violently. Apples began falling from its branches. I couldn't believe it. "So how long have you known about those, hmm? We're you planning on telling me before or after you ate us out of house and…wait, poor choice of words…out of, well…ate all our food?" I questioned, not really as annoyed as I was acting. Snorlax blinked a few times then smiled. It scooped up a bunch of them and then, after stomping back over to the cave, rained them down on top of me.

"Snorlax, Snorlax, Lax, Snorlax!" he shouted with delight. I dug my way out of the pile of fruit and picked one up and tossed it at him.

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically and half jokingly. Snorlax of course snagged the apple out of the air and practically inhaled it. Then he just grinned at me and lumbered over, went inside the cave and lay down to go to sleep. I wasn't quite so tired yet, so after stuffing my pack and duffle bag with as many apples as I could, I decided to climb up the face of the cliff. I was approaching the bushes when I stepped on a branch I hadn't seen in the darkness. It was old and made a terrible cracking sound as it was reduced to splinters. It startled me a bit, but it startled a Scyther in the near-by brush a bit more. It came zipping out of the bushes, fast as lightning, and glared at me. Judging by the way it was sharpening it's scythes on each other and staring at me like a honey-baked ham, I could tell it wanted to slice me up like a nice roasted turkey on Thanksgiving. I decided that I would prefer it not to do any such thing.

"Snorlax! Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was _praying_ that he hadn't already gone to sleep. If he had then I was finished. Toast. Fish Food. Or perhaps bug bait more appropriately. Fortunately, Snorlax came barreling out of the cave at top speed, which was surprisingly fast for such a large Pokemon. The Scyther was taken aback enough for me to scramble behind my big green wall. Snorlax looked angry. Not only had this thing almost attacked me, but it was interrupting his sleep. Poor Scyther. If it had known any better, it would have flown away right then. But apparently, it didn't.

"Scyther, Scy…_ther_!" it screeched in absolute rage. It came soaring towards us, brandishing its razor-sharp blades like gleaming knives, aiming a Slash right at Snorlax.

"Snorlax, dodge it and use Mega Punch!" I commanded from the safety of the cave that I had dived into. I had no intention of getting sliced to ribbons on the first night of my journey. Snorlax moved to the left but too late; the Scyther was simply too fast. The Scyther, however, didn't except such a massive Pokemon to dodge at all. It struck Snorlax, but a glancing blow that didn't seem to stagger him much.

"Scyther Scy!" the infuriated bug yelled. It began to come at Snorlax again. There was no way he could dodge this one at all; the Scyther had learned from its mistakes. I had to think differently and make up for Snorlax's speed disadvantage. But then Scyther was on Snorlax again and delivered a massive Slash. Snorlax stumbled back and nearly fell over. Fortunately Snorlax was able to recover, but I didn't want him to take that kind of a shot again.

"Snorlax, give it a Hyper Beam!" Snorlax faced Scyther who had backed off a bit and began to charge up his attack. In a few seconds he cut loose the Hyper Beam. The intense energy stream ripped through the air, burning leafs that hung from the trees above out of existence. I was nearly blinded by the light and the stench of ozone that filled the air. Scyther was ready for it though, and it used a quick Double Team. By the time the destructive ray reached him it had used Double Team and blurred out of the way so one of its illusionary clones took the hit for it. Snorlax stopped the Hyper Beam, out of breath and too tired to move for the time being. Scyther seized the opportunity though and came from behind him with a blazing Quick Attack. Snorlax rocked forward but managed to stay on its feet.

"Snor, Snorlax!" it cried, more in frustration than pain. Scyther was coming in for another Slash now. I needed to turn the tables and fast.

"Counter now Snorlax!" I called to him. Snorlax concentrated and began to glow as a shield formed around his massive body. Scyther's speed was turned against it and it was unable to stop before slamming into Snorlax. It flew back with a screech and lay still for a moment. But it was back up again and preparing for another assault. It came right at Snorlax, angrier than ever now. I had to put it out of commission somehow. "Snorlax, use your Yawn attack!" I told him. Snorlax gave a huge Yawn and a bubble came out of his mouth. The Scyther's speed once again undid it as it had been too close when this happened and couldn't dodge it. The bubble hit it square on and it stopped its attack. It wobbled around on its legs for a few seconds then collapsed, totally asleep. "Snorlax, lets finish it with a Body Slam." I instructed. This is another thing; my Snorlax seems to have this great sense of humor. Instead of leaping through the air and crashing down on top of the opponent like he normally would do, battered as he was from the fight, he sort of sauntered over to the sleepy Scyther and just kind of fell on top of him. It was hilarious. "Heh, okay, okay, you can get off of it now," I said, barely holding back the laughs. Snorlax nodded with a grin and stood up. The Scyther was still asleep, amazingly, and was now pressed about a foot into the ground. This was hilarious too. I was able to rein it in though. Walking cautiously out of the cave I snatched a ball from the left wristband and enlarged it. I tossed it at the Scyther and the ball opened and sucked the Scyther in with a brilliant glare of red light. The ball fell to the ground and wiggled for a few seconds as the Scyther resisted its capture, but really now, Snorlax had just sat on it, how much strength could it possibly have been able to muster? The ball quit wiggling after a number of seconds and the red light in the center went out; I had caught a Scyther! I scooted over to the Ball and held it in my hand. "Sweet." I said with a giddy grin.

"Snorlax, Lax Snor!" My Snorlax crowed with pride. I got up and gave him a hi-five.

"That was some great work buddy! Awesome job!" I complemented. "But I better check on our new friend, I'm afraid you may have crushed the life out of him!" I said. Snorlax's face instantly got this horrible worried look on it.

"S…Snor?" he said quietly. I reached over and patted him

"Kidding, just kidding Snorlax." I quickly reassured him with a smile. He relaxed a lot and looked at the Pokeball expectantly. I tossed the ball on the ground and out popped Scyther. It looked around a bit and then walked slowly over to me. It stared me right in the eyes like no one had ever done before. So I stared right back. After almost a minute of strained silent staring it finally took a step back. Then it extended its right scythe arm. What could I do? I sort of grabbed it at the top and shook "hands" with my new partner. It nodded apparently in approval and then shook "hands" with Snorlax as well.

"Scyther…" it said quietly. It nodded and smiled at me. At least I think that was what passes as a smile from a quiet, serious Pokemon like Scyther.

"Well, uh, welcome to the group Scyther. Here, come over here and let me check you out, see if you're hurt." I walked over to the cave with Scyther tailing me and pulled out my backpack. I turned around and began looking Scyther over. He seemed fine, miraculously enough after having Snorlax use him for a cushion, and really only had a small cut on its shoulder. After a quick spray of potion and a small bandage Scyther walked over to where Snorlax was asleep in the cave and lay down next to him. I looked over at the cliff I had been planning to climb and suddenly felt a little more tired than I had back before all the excitement. So I put up my stuff, spread out my sleeping bag and curled up next to my two friends, falling sleep about a second after my head hit the pillow. If I could have seen the near future, I would have treasured those moments of sleep like gold.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Brian:_

I awoke the next morning to a light, early dew that made the grass shimmer in the bright morning sun. I crawled out of my sleeping bag, surprisingly stiff from my first night out of a soft bed. I got up and went outside the still dark cave and stretched with a yawn as the fresh rays of the sun bathed me in their warmth. I quick check of the surroundings showed that Snorlax was still asleep. It was snoring peacefully, scratching its belly every so often. Scyther, on the other hand, was wide awake and eating a few of the apples that we had left last night.

"'Morning, Scyther," I said groggily. I wasn't a morning person like my new bug Pokemon. Tousling my matted bed-head hair I shuffled over to the remains of the small fire we had made last night. I pulled an apple from my backpack and began to eat it. I noticed Scyther still eating apples. Maybe it would like something a bit better? "Hey Scyther, try this out," I said as I reached into my pack and pulled out a container of Bug Pokemon food. Scyther dropped the apple it was holding shish-kabob style on its scythe and crept over to me. I opened the lid and a sort of stale, sour smell began to fume through the air. It smelled pretty bad to me, but Scyther's eyes got all wide and gleaming. It peered into the container anxiously.

"Scyther…scy?" he said, wondering if he could have some. I fished around in my pack and eventually produced a small bowl. I used a spoon to scoop some of the food into the bowl and set it in front of Scyther. He looked at me and then began to devour the stuff. He apparently liked it a lot. This was encouraging. I had been studying Pokemon food and nutrition on the internet and dabbling with making Pokemon food for a while. I just hadn't had any way to test it out, since Snorlax liked to eat _everything_. I could have gotten rave reviews on burnt chicken bones with him for crying out loud.

"Glad you like it, pal." I told him with a smile. This was great. So far I was getting along fantastically with my new partner. I finished eating my apple and then had a granola bar and a bottle of warm water. Nothing special, but such is the life of a traveler who has limited cooking skills I suppose. I knew what I needed to do next. After retrieving the now empty bowl from Scyther, I stood up and made my way over to the cliff wall.

"Scyther, Scyther Scy? My Pokemon asked. I turned around and gave a quick smile.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to climb up to the top here and see if I can find some water. You know, a river or something like that," I glanced back over to the cave. "If Snorlax wakes up before I get back, just tell him that, okay?"

"Scy Scyther." He answered with a nod. I gave him a thumbs-up and then started climbing the cliff. It wasn't too hard of a climb, I found many foot and hand holes peppered across the rocky surface and the cliff itself was only maybe twenty or thirty feet high. I got to the top after about fifteen minutes and took a few more to rest my arms. I could tell that I would be getting plenty of exercise on my journey. After my quick rest I began to make my way through the low-lying brush. It was thicker up here than down below at the campsite, but it wasn't so bad you couldn't make your way through it. I kind of wished I hadn't been wearing shorts though. After the first few yards from the edge of the cliff the trees began to appear again. I continued through the heavy brush and finally after about another ten minutes I broke through into a small clearing. A stream was running through the middle of the clearing, not too big or deep, but the water was moving pretty fast so I thought it would be just fine.

"Score!" I said proudly. I was getting pretty good at all this surviving in the wild stuff. I washed off the bowl and spoon and filled up my bottle with water. I took an empty canteen that I hadn't had time to fill up at the house and did so now at the stream. As I stood and turned around I saw Scyther flying over the trees. He zipped over the tree tops and came to rest a few feet in front of me.

"Scyther scy!" It said.

"What, is something wrong?" I asked, concerned. It shook its head no.

"Scyther…Scyther Scyther scy." It answered.

"Did you just come to make sure I got back okay?" I asked, now understanding better. He nodded.

"Scyther!"

"Oh okay, that was nice of you. I'm ready to go now." I told him. We both turned and he led the way out of the clearing. When we neared the thick brush, Scyther began to Slash and Cut it to shreds. We moved through a nicely made pathway as we made our way towards the cliff. "Sheesh, I should have brought you along with me in the first place, pal." I commented with a smirk, thinking of my scratched up legs. Scyther continued his hack away as we moved through the forest and finally reached the cliff's edge. Scyther jumped off the edge and took flight, gliding easily down to the ground below. Of course, I could do no such thing. Fortunately, Snorlax was awake and coming out of the cave now.

"Snorlax, lax Snorlax!" it called up to me in greeting.

"Hey buddy, did you sleep well?" I asked with a wave. "Hey, could you come over here and lie down for a minute?" Snorlax nodded and pounded over to the cliff. It plopped down on its back and looked up at me.

"Lax, Snorlax Snor!" he yelled.

"Okay," I called. "Stay right there!" I took a short leap off the cliff and plummeted down towards the earth. I rolled up and stretched my feet out so as not to come down feet first on him. I landed softy on his belly and bounced off quickly. Snorlax then stood up and, smiling, walked over to the cave and sat down as he started to inhale more apples. I walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks bud, it would have taken a lot of time to climb all the way down that cliff. Okay guys, eat up and then it'll be time to hit the road," I turned around to Scyther. "Hey umm… Scyther…if there is anyone you need to like…you know…say goodbye to…well that's fine." Scyther looked at me for a moment and then shook its head.

"Scyther Scy Scyther." It replied. It seemed that Scyther had been alone out here. I instantly felt a deeper connection with it.

"Okay then, Snorlax, are you ready?" Snorlax finished off the apples and stood up from its place on the ground.

"Snorlax lax lax Snorlax!" it answered me with a nod. I nodded back.

"Okay then, let's get going!" I pulled off their Pokeballs from my wristbands and brought them both inside, and then re-clipping the downsized balls to my wrists, I put on my backpack, slung the duffle bag over my shoulder and started heading towards the main road. When I could see it up ahead I veered north instead of walking the road, so as to avoid any search parties. No doubt my old man had people out looking for me. Not that he was concerned about me or anything. He no doubt wanted to make sure that I couldn't squeal to the police about his base of operations. But I didn't plan to. He would be punished for his crimes. His crimes against people, against Pokemon, and against me and my mother. And I had no intention of allowing any officer or court to rob me of the chance to eventually deliver that punishment.

I traveled north for a while, keeping off the main roads as much as possible. We camped out for a few nights and then after three days of walking and hiking through all kinds of terrain we came to Cyprus Town, a small village with little more than a Pokemon Center, a school and a handful of houses. The little town was situated right by a huge lake. Lake Sarpal according to my map. Well we were running low on food but I had managed our supplies well enough, knowing we would be able to make it here in time. It was a bit out of the way from the main path, so as not to attract attention. I headed over to the Pokemon center, which was surprisingly big for such a small town, and walked in through the doors. Nurse Joy greeted me with a friendly smile.

"Good Evening, how can I help you tonight?" Of course I knew that all the centers had a Nurse Joy, and they were all identical, and I could tell that this was not the Nurse Joy from home, but it still tore me up.

"Well umm…my Pokemon and I are just out traveling and we need some place to stay for the night." It was really hard seeing someone that looked just like my best friend again. I needed to give her a call sometime but I wanted to wait for a while. My dad probably had the place scoped out real well by now, and the phone lines tapped. Worse than that though Joy knew by now that I had lied to her and run away. That would only make her worry more. I knew she would keep any Pokemon sent to my account safe though; a trainer's Pokemon account was absolutely off limits to anyone other that the account holder and Pokemon Nurses, and I knew that Joy was straight enough and upstanding so she would never break the law. That way my dad would never have access to any of my Pokemon.

"Excuse me?" Nurse Joy looked over concerned and snapped me out of my trance.

"Oh, uh, sorry…I guess I'm just tired." I managed to mumble. She smiled mildly and nodded.

"Of course, I understand. Would you like me to give your Pokemon a checkup?" she asked. I thought it would be a good idea.

"Yeah sure, that sounds great." I replied. I pulled off the two balls from my left wristband and handed them to Nurse Joy. She accepted them with a smile and took them into the back room. After a few minutes she returned to the desk.

"Did you by any chance happen to capture that Scyther recently?" she asked me. I thought it was a little odd that she suspected this.

"Uh, yeah about three days ago I believe. I guess it was about twenty five miles southwest of here, roughly." She nodded in understanding.

"I'm not surprised; there have been a lot of Scyther and other bug Pokemon in the area recently. It has all the professors and researchers baffled."

"That's odd. Oh well, it worked out okay for me I suppose. I always wanted to catch a Scyther." I told her with a grin. She smiled back and then headed back towards the room where so had taken my Pokemon. She stopped short and came back though.

"Oh, where is my head tonight?" she said sheepishly. She typed in some things on a computer and asked for my trainer number.

"1110." I told her without thinking. I instantly knew that I shouldn't have said anything. What if there was some bulletin out for me? I started to sweat and I could feel adrenaline pumping out into my body. This could be it for me. But she just entered the number and continued to type. I guess they hadn't put anything on my trainer account yet. Maybe they never would. I was just thankful that I would be okay this time. Nurse Joy finished what she had been typing and reached behind the desk and brought out a small key.

"Here you are, we have one last opening in room 86 on the third floor. You can go eat something in the cafeteria down the hall," she told me, pointing to the hallway to her left. "I'll have your Pokemon sent to your room after I finish my exam. Okay?" I nodded at her.

"Okay, sounds like a plan!" I said, a little too loudly perhaps. The adrenaline hadn't completely drained out of me yet. Joy nodded and gave me a slightly funny look and then walked off and through the back door to check out my Pokemon. I breathed a little more now and headed towards the cafeteria. I ran into a few other trainers in the hall and said hello as I walked by. After a few turns I eventually ended up at the cafeteria. I went up to the line and ordered a cheeseburger, corn on the cob and a cola. After I paid the very reasonable price I went in search of a table. The whole place was filled with trainers and other people and I could see that the cafeteria was also the town's only restaurant. Trainers and other people peppered the tables but each one it seemed was full. I thought I might have to go and eat outside when someone called me.

"Hey, you there!" someone shouted. I looked around and saw a guy about my age waving at me from a table over by the huge bay windows facing the lake. I pointed to myself to see if he was talking to me. "Yeah, you, need a seat? C'mon over here, there's plenty or room!" he yelled back over the soft din of noise. I started to make my way through the tables and people, saying "Excuse me" and "Coming through" a lot. I finally made it over to the table and sat down. The guy was my close to my age, maybe a year older at most, and had a pretty friendly smile. He was wearing a dark forest green vest with really deep violet colored T-Shirt underneath. The shirt he had on was plain, as was the vest, save for the white trim around the sleeves. He was wearing shorts like me, but they were the same purple as his shirt with a stripe down the side of each leg the same forest green as his vest, unlike my solid black pair. Simple sneakers were his chosen footwear and he had a sort of greenish aqua colored cap with a white stripe crossing it diagonally lying on the table next to his pasta and chicken. This revealed his somewhat unkempt black hair and the light reflected off his emerald eyes. I thought I should introduce myself.

"Hi, uh, my name is Brian." I said quietly. I can be slightly shy around new people.

"Hey there, my name is Phillip Lee of Lee's Fishing. That's my dad's company." He said with a smile. He wasn't loud and obnoxious like I had expected him to be. I realized that he had only been yelling and waving his hand like a doofus to get my attention. But Lee's Fishing? I used to eat their stuff all the time.

"Really? Your dad owns Lee's Fishing? That's cool, you guys make some good stuff." He nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah I guess we do, but fishing was never really my thing. Don't get me wrong, I like to fish. I just don't want to make a life out of it. That's why I left this morning." He said after he finished a bite. He took a swig from the bottle of root beer he had and continued. "I guess I always wanted to have a more free life. Go off, train Pokemon, you know, the basic stuff I guess. Plus my little sister drove me _crazy_," he said with a face that could only be described as a half smile, half frown. "It was either me or her, so I thought it was time I got on my way. So, how about you, Brian?" _Wow._ I thought. _Am I gonna have to lie to everyone I meet?_

"Uh, well…" I started to say, not sure of what I should tell him. "Actually, my family is a lot like yours. My dad owns a company but, well," I thought for a moment. "Let's just say I wasn't crazy about following in his footsteps." _Well, at least it isn't a _total_ lie._ I thought with a mental roll of the eyes.

"Oh really?" Phillip said with interest. "What company?" I started sweating again.

"Uh…" I mumbled, trying to think of some company. "Pierce Electronics." I croaked finally. Phillip stopped eating for a moment.

"Ummm…Jordan, the son of Flint Pierce, is a close friend of mine. So now I guess I should ask why you just lied to me." He said, eyeing me. I started to sweat even more.

"Oh, uh…did…did I say PIERCE Electronics…I uh…I meant PRICE Electronics...sorry, misspoke there, heh." I squeaked with a totally fake smile. Phillip stared at me for a moment.

"Okay, whatever, I'm sure you have your reasons for lying to me, since Price Electronics was bought by Pierce a year ago, but hey, whatever, I won't make you say anything if you don't want to." Wow, he had me. I think I would have started to sweat even more if there had been any water left in my body. Thankfully a Chansey waitress brought me my food then.

"Oh, thanks a bunch Chansey!" I cried, swiping the trey from its hands nervously. I think I may have startled it a bit but at least it didn't attack me or run away scared. "Oh, sorry about that, here." I slid it a tip and it and the Chansey collected it with a smile, then dashed off back to the kitchen. Phillip was staring at me with all these looks rolled into one expression, like "Oh yeah, this guy is DEFENATLY hiding something," and "Whoa, what was up with that?" I grabbed my drink and began to slug it down as quickly as I could.

"It's okay man," he told me finally. "Everyone has things they don't want to talk about, it's fine. I do too. Just tell me that, okay?" I nodded.

"Okay, yeah, I'd rather not talk about it." I said quietly.

"Alright then, that's fine." I relaxed about an inch but he seemed friendly and sincere enough though. We finished eating and then got milkshakes, talking all the time about Pokemon, current events, even the weather. Sad as it is to say, he was probably one of the best human friends I had ever had, and I had only met him about an hour ago at the time. We started walking back through the hallway and stopped outside my room on the third floor.

"Well, this is my room. Where are you staying?" I asked as I unlocked the door. Phillip's eyes got all wide and then he laughed a bit.

"Heh, well, I just realized I didn't get a reservation. Brother…" he chuckled. I was shocked.

"Didn't get a room? Oh wow, this was the last one…" I looked inside my room. There was a bunk bed. "Well, why don't you stay in my room tonight then?" I offered. Phillip smiled at the suggestion.

"Really? Are you sure you won't need the extra bed?" he asked. _Well it sure won't hold Snorlax. _I thought with an invisible smile. _And even if I thought it could, you couldn't _pay_ me to sleep under him._

"Yeah, it'll be fine; I'm traveling alone after all." I reassured him. He smiled even more brightly.

"Okay, sure! Thanks a lot!" he said cheerily. "I'll be back after I go get my stuff, I left it in a locker downstairs."

"Not a problem. " I replied, flipping the switch and bathing the room with artificial light. I walked in and kicked off my shoes before plopping onto the bed. My bags had been brought here already. _Nice service._ I thought. After a quick shower I felt a lot better and decided I'd go to bed soon. Phillip had already retrieved his backpack and sat on the top bunk rubbing his eyes tiredly. Well, it was more of a light brown sack actually. A soft knock came from the door. I got up and shuffled over to the door and opened it. A Chansey greeted me and handed me a tray with my two Pokeballs in it. Then the Pokemon handed me a report.

"Chansey!" it said happily as it dashed off after I thanked it. I brought them back into the room and read the report; a healing cut on Scyther and a small bruise on Snorlax's right arm. "Rest for both and continued bandaging for Scyther recommended." The report said. _Not bad, considering that battle the other night_. I thought wearily. I set them down on and old wooden nightstand next to my bed. Phillip was already asleep up above me and so I turned in too.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Brian:_

I didn't sleep very well that night; I didn't wake up at all or anything, but I was haunted by nightmares. The things I had been through, the things I had found out about my father. Was his entire business just a sham? Was he ever a good man? Did something just go wrong along the way? Did…did he ever care about me at all? Images and memories swirled in my brain for hours until I finally woke up around 5:30 the next morning. A cool sweat was all over me and the sheets were a tangled mess. I used my shaking hands to wipe the sweat from my clammy face and stumbled into the bathroom for a warm shower. It made me feel a bit better but those images were there still. I got dressed in a new pair of clothes and dropped my old ones off in the laundry room on my way down for breakfast in the cafeteria. I ordered a bowl of cereal, milk and some toast and then sat at the same table by the window as the night before. The area was significantly less crowded than the night before, mostly a couple of people who looked like they had stopped in for a bagel before work and a few early rising trainers like me. I rubbed my eyes and my temples and tried to forget the dreams as I gazed out the windows and over to the fishing boats that were out casting nets in the lake, crewmen milling about the decks doing…well…whatever it is that crewmen on fishing boats do. As I was transfixed on the waters and ships the same Chansey brought me my food and I thanked it with a tip and a pat on the head. It smiled that always happy Chansey smile and then scooted off to pick up the next order. Phillip walked in at that moment and went to the counter to order himself something to eat after waving at me a little bit. I have him a half wave back and dug into the corn flakes in front of me. In a few minutes he sat down across from me.

"Well, good morning Phillip." I said, not at all enthusiastically. He looked and me and frowned a bit.

"Good and Morning don't go together if you ask me. Good morning is one of the world's biggest oxymorons." I perked up a little bit. This guy was making a lot more sense to me than anyone I had ever met.

"I heard that," I told him with a smile. I couldn't help but to chuckle inwardly a bit at the sight of his messy hair. He certainly was _not_ a morning person. I could defiantly relate.

"So," he started after Chansey had served him a pile of pancakes and some sausage. "I was wondering, are you headed anywhere specific?" I thought about where I was actually going. At least this time I could be honest.

"Well not really, but eventually I'll end up in Vermillion because I'm gonna catch the ship to the Hoenn area." Phillip nodded.

"Hmmm…that sounds cool. Mind if I come?" I kind of looked at him funny for a minute.

"What, with me?" I asked stupidly. Phillip's face sank.

"Uh, yeah with you…if you don't want me to that's okay, I'll understand." He said with a small frown. But could I really let him come with me? I mean, my dad's people were probably after me. Could I knowingly drag another person into all this?

"It would be awesome, but…well…" I wasn't sure I could even tell them. Phillip leaned over.

"Look, are you like a crook or something? Are you on the run from someone?" Wow. I though. He's pretty insightful.

"Oh no…well…yes I am," I finally admitted. Then I realized what I had said. "I mean, no, I'm not a criminal...what I meant was…see…I ran away from home four days ago. And I think my dad is looking for me." Phillip nodded.

"Oh I get it now. Ah yes, it makes sense now. Lying, trying not to give anything away to maybe get caught." I nodded slightly.

"Yeah."

"Hey, that's okay man, but why did you run away? I mean, did your dad do something or what?" he asked. _Something._ I thought. _Where would I even begin?_

"Well, let's just say that I couldn't be there anymore," I told him. "It's…complicated." He shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah I get it. I needed to get out of my place too. Maybe the circumstances aren't the same, but I get what you're saying. I won't say anything to anyone." I smiled at him.

"Thanks. Well yeah, in that case, sure, it would be cool if you came along with me. But just, well, if my dad finds me…us…it could be bad, okay? I just need to warn you, okay?" He nodded after giving me a look.

"Yeah sure," he smiled kind of sadly. "My parents are looking for me too…"

"Well okay then, it's settled. Maybe we should head over to Cerulean before heading out of the country. I have a…um…a uh…someone…someone there I need…to say goodbye to." I wheezed. He gave me a little bit of a funny look but then nodded in agreement.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." We finished up breakfast and then headed back to the room. We packed up our stuff and after checking out we left the Pokemon center and Cyprus Town.

We headed north northeast and crossed over the Oirtgud mountain range in two days and stopped off in another Pokemon Center in Maple City, which was situated at the foot of the other side of the mountains. We spent the night their and then moved on towards the Melog Bridge that connected the general Cerulean area to Gapton, a fairly large city on the edge of the huge Lake of Peace. Who knows why it was named that, but it's a positively massive body of water. It's nearly sixty miles across and the Melog Bridge was a huge project. It's about a mile wide and has room on each of the sides for stores, souvenir stands and a mall. I think they were even talking about putting a small amusement park up, but I don't know if they ever got those plans off the ground. There is even a Pokemon Center right in the middle of it. So as you can see, when I said it was huge I was not exaggerating. This thing was the biggest tourist attraction since…well…ever I think. We hadn't been walking across the bridge for maybe, oh, thirty minutes I'd say when a pair of guys in strange leather outfits and Mohawks came roaring up to us on a set of hogs and stopped us on the side of the road.

"Hey you, kids there, you guys Pokemon Trainers or what?" one of them asked with a sarcastic smirk. These guys were trouble, no doubt about it.

"Yeah," I retorted. "Who wants to know?" Both of them laughed.

"We're the Brothers Bash!" the both yelled. "And we challenge you to a battle!"

They were starting to get me angry but Phillip just looked amused.

"The Brothers Bash? Are you kidding me?" he chuckled. "Are your last names really Bash? So what are you, Crash and Smash or something?" he started laughing pretty hard. They both gave us icy stares.

"Laugh all you want kid, but we're gonna take you punks down! Let's go!" the one on the right yelled. Phillip looked over at me.

"Who are they calling punks? Well, what do you think?" he asked with a grin still plastered on his face. I was pretty upset. I mean who did they think they were?

"Let's take 'em." I growled. Then I shouted at them. "One Pokemon each, as a team. Last team with a Pokemon standing wins. Is that okay with you losers?" The yelled back at us.

"Fine by us, kid," he replied, despite the fact that I was a good five inches taller than he was. "Let's do it!" The guy on the right was pretty much the speaker for them and was a little shorter and plump. His Mohawk was bright yellow and he had an earring in his left ear. He was wearing a black leather jacket and a brown t-shirt with faded jeans and cowboy boots. His brother was dressed similarly except that he was in all black with a red Mohawk. Defiantly about the weirdest people I think I had ever met. The short one on the right threw out a Pokeball and released his Houndoom and his brother did the same to reveal his Machamp. Phillip sent out his best-buddy Ivysaur, which looked ready for a fight. I realized that using Scyther would put us at a huge disadvantage against the fire-type Houndoom so I went with good old Snorlax. The Machamp stood silently but the Houndoom looked almost rabid. It stood there foaming at the mouth and glared at us, it's eyes seeming to glow with bloodlust. I guess Phillip decided to take the first move because he had Ivysaur barreling over to hit the Machamp with a Headbutt. The big goon told his Machamp to dodge and surprisingly it was able to with what looked like little trouble. This Machamp, at least, would be a formidable opponent. Phillip realized this as well and had Ivysaur back off a bit and attack from a distance with Razor Leaf. The Machamp was staggered slightly from the hundreds of little leafs slamming and slicing at it and so I took the opportunity to have Snorlax rush it for a Mega Punch. Snorlax dashed forward and was ready to lay into the fighting Pokemon when I saw the Houndoom cut loose a Flamethrower, aimed right for Ivysaur. I knew I couldn't let him get hit with a fire move that could well have finished him off in one shot.

"Snorlax, back off of Machamp and block for Ivysaur!" I commanded. Snorlax made a fairly quick adjustment and was able to move in front of Ivysaur in time to take the attack. It was a pretty strong move but fire and ice type attacks didn't seem to bother Snorlax overly much. Even so though, I knew, I needed to get Snorlax out of there. Before I could do anything however, Phillip had Ivysaur actually jump over Snorlax and the Flamethrower and do a sort of diving headbutt that connected squarely with Houndoom's head. The fire breathing dog yelped and went down. It wasn't knocked out though, but we needed this time to deal with Machamp, who was rushing Snorlax.

"Machamp, use your Karate Chop on that Snorlax right now!" the trainer called to it. Machamp took off at a pretty good clip and was next to Snorlax in a matter of a second or two.

"Snorlax, block the attack!" I managed to yell just before Machamp dropped his hand on Snorlax. My Snorlax was able to catch the fighting type's hand and the two started to wrestle and square off a little bit. I was about to tell Snorlax to break away, because after all it was a normal type and had the disadvantage against a fighting type, but before I could the Machamp's trainer called for a Seismic Toss. To my amazement and horror, the Machamp actually used all four arms and _lifted_ Snorlax _over its head_ and flung it about twenty feet across the street. Snorlax landed with a huge thud and the pavement started to fissure under it. I think all four of us trainers were pretty awestruck. It seemed that the Machamp's Trainer thought he had made a mistake by calling for the Toss and hadn't expected it to work, but the fighter had actually pulled it off. After the initial shock I called Snorlax.

"Hey Snorlax, are you okay buddy? Can you keep going? I asked it. Snorlax was able to rise to its feet, although a bit wobbly at first, but it seemed that there was no serious damage done. I knew that despite the fact that the attack had succeeded it really was a mistake to use it; the Machamp couldn't have looked any more tired and Phillip seized the opportunity.

"Ivysaur, tie it up with a Vine Whip and then give it a taste of its own medicine!" he told him. Ivysaur caught the exhausted Machamp unable to defend itself and sent it flying overhead to crash to the pavement behind us, down for good. "Nice job Ivysaur!" Phillip called to his Pokemon. But now the blasted Houndoom was back up and readying itself for an attack. I, for one, wanted to get this battle over with.

"Snorlax!" I called out to him. "Give it a Hyper Beam!" Snorlax braced itself as the intense beam of heat and light tore across the street and obliterated a stop sign. That familiar smell of burning atmosphere filled the air. Houndoom was still a tad disoriented and wasn't able to dodge the attack at all. The full force of the blinding Hyper Beam blasted it from it's feet and engulfed it in destructive energy. The only reason that Houndoom didn't go sailing off the other end of the bridge was because it was stopped by a railing…after blasting through a tree. Needless to say, the Houndoom didn't get up. We had won.

"Gah!" the brothers yelped in unison. Their Pokemon were recalled into the balls and they high-tailed it down the bridge on their hogs, yelling something about "Uncle." Phillip and I gave each other high fives and then I gave Snorlax a high five as well. He looked really tired though so I put him back into his ball.

"Wow, nice work Brian!" Phillip said, enthusiastically and tiredly at the same time.

"Yeah you too Phillip." I replied. "I think we should head for the Pokemon Center. I think Snorlax might be hurt or even burned a bit." Phillip looked a bit guilty.

"Yeah, thanks for blocking for Ivysaur, I guess I owe you one, for both of us." He told me with a concerned smile.

"Nah, forget it. C'mon, let's get a move on." We traveled to the half way point of the bridge and made it to the Pokemon Center in time for the clock inside the doors to strike midnight. We drug ourselves up to the counter and checked in our Pokemon with Nurse Joy and got a room. We didn't even eat anything before collapsing on the beds. Being held up by a couple of looser trainers who thought they stood a chance was no fun, and we had been awake for nearly twenty hours without a break of any kind. So we just collapsed and fell right to sleep.

I awoke the next morning due to the sunlight that was streaming into the window, which we didn't bother to cover with the drapes the night before. It was seven o'clock. I got up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as best as I could and staggered into the restroom for a quick shower. When I emerged Phillip was up and took a shower himself. We went downstairs and were greeted by Nurse Joy as we trudged downstairs like zombies.

"Oh my," Nurse Joy said with a mix of amusement and concern. "Did you two sleep okay last night?" I sort of nodded as best I could.

"Oh, uh, yeah. We're just not…you know," I groaned. "Like, morning people." Phillip raised his arm wearily.

"Amen." He moaned. Nurse Joy just smiled.

"You know, this is what happens when you come trudging in at some horrid hour of the night. Honestly, you must take better care of your bodies." Phillip could see that I looked about ready to say something rude so he spoke up first.

"Oh, uh, yeah I guess you're right. We'll, um, remember that in the future." She nodded.

"Okay then, that's good, let me get your Pokemon for you." She disappeared into a back room and emerged with our Pokeballs. Phillip took his Ivysaur and Ralts, his other partner, and I accepted my Snorlax and Scyther. "Brian," Nurse Joy started. "You're Snorlax had a fairly sever burn on its stomach," she reached into a drawer and produced a yellow spray bottle that read "Burn Heal" across it in big red letters. "Apply this to the burned skin once a day for the rest of the week and it should be fine, okay?" I nodded.

"Okay, thanks a lot Nurse Joy." She turned to Phillip

"Phillip, both Ivysaur and Ralts are doing fine, but Ivysaur is a little tired so I would suggest not battling with it for a day or two if you can help it, just to be on the safe side." Phillip nodded in understanding.

"Sure thing, sounds good." Nurse Joy smiled at us.

"Okay, looks like you guys are ready to get moving again. Have a safe trip you two!" She said cheerily. We both smiled back.

"We will." Phillip told her. We left the Pokemon Center and headed for the Diner across the street. After we dashed across the road like fools we took a seat in the restaurant. It was really new, although the atmosphere was made to have it look old. It had a sort of ancient Japan feel to it, with old Samurai armor and traditional Japanese music playing over the speakers. Very cool. I got some waffles and a donut and Phillip got some scrambled eggs, bacon and a few slices of toast with butter. I went to get some syrup and also some pepper for Phillip's eggs and we began eating soon after. We hadn't had any dinner last night after all. We wolfed down breakfast and ordered some more toast and milk after that. We sat there, maybe a bit too long, eating and talking.

"So where did you actually come from?" I asked Phillip.

"Oh, we lived in Magnolia City over on the other side of Lake Sarpal. That's where we had our fishing business." He took a drink of milk. "You probably couldn't have seen it from Cyprus though. The lake is too big." I nodded and jumped in after finishing a bite of toast.

"So, what are your plans? Any particular Pokemon you want to catch someday?" Phillip smiled.

"Well if I never get another Pokemon Ralts and Ivysaur make me happy, although I have always wanted…well…" he got this misty nostalgic look in his eyes. "One night I was tying up one of our boats at the dock and I got attacked by a Sneasle. It was a pretty well known trouble-maker in the area at the time. It never really hurt anyone, at least not too badly, but hey, I was like nine and was pretty scared. But then out of nowhere this Umbreon came up and started beating the stuffing out of it. It was awesome. The Umbreon saved me!" Phillip got all excited. "It was so cool! You should have been there Brian! It was so fast and strong! I can only hope that I get one some day!" He looked about at the point of weeping with joy but managed to contain it. After a minute he had come back down to earth and started eating again.

"I see, so what your saying is…you like Umbreon, right?" I said jokingly. He grinned.

"Oh, just a little bit, yeah. So, how about you?" I thought for a moment.

"Well I don't have any incredible story like that or anything, but I have always liked Crobat." I said with a grin. "I mean really, how cool is Crobat? It's just blindingly fast and so agile, it's like watching a vicious battle dance. I don't know, I guess I've just always saw them as being cool." Phillip nodded.

"Yeah, true. I can defiantly relate." We talked a while more and finished up our breakfast. We headed out side and released our Pokemon for their breakfast. After setting out various Pokemon foods and blocking the door of the restaurant from Snorlax's ever-hungry self, we decided to walk some of the way with out Pokemon out with us. We figured they could use some fresh air too. Snorlax got along pretty well with Phillip and his Pokemon, but Scyther made very fast friends with little Ralts. The two walked and talked for a long time. Who could understand what they were saying, but they seemed to be getting along really well. Snorlax made some conversation with Ivysaur, who would "laugh" every now and then at what I assumed was a joke. It was kind of interesting and I think Phillip and I enjoyed just listening to them talk to each other for a while. Scyther started carrying Ralts around on the flat side of its right scythe arm and even took her flying on its back over the water. It was cool to see because both my Scyther and Phillips Ralts usually seemed to be really quite and reserved. Snorlax and Ivysaur continued to chat back and forth for a while and so did Phillip and I. We stopped off for lunch at a burger joint along the way and continued over the bridge until we reached Gapton around 8:00 pm that night. We checked in and watched a little TV in our room before turning in for the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Brian:_

We spent the night in Gapton and after a quick breakfast we went to the park so our Pokemon could get some exercise. As they played together Phillip and I sat on a bench not far away and studied a map, trying to decide the best route to take. Well, honestly, the others played while Snorlax continued to sleep. It was still a little early for him I guess. Phillip and I both decided that it would be best to take a road less traveled, so to speak, and stay off the main roads where we were more likely to be spotted.

"Hmmm…look here Brian," Phillip commented, pointing to a ridge of mountains to the north. "Maybe we should take a path up there." I wasn't so sure.

"Well I don't know. There is no Pokemon Center for several miles after the mountains, and the guide book here says that those particular mountains are pretty rough on climbers." Phillip nodded.

"Yeah, maybe your right." We continued to look the map over until I spotted something.

"Hey, look at this!" I exclaimed, jabbing my finger at a place on the map. "Igneous Cave, right here. It's only about what, a mile and a half long? And look, there is a small Pokemon center about twenty minutes from the other side of it. I think we should head over there." Phillip nodded.

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," he replied. Then he thought of something I hadn't. "Wait, do you have any flashlights?" He asked.

"Oh, no, I didn't think of that." I said. We ended up going to a small store on the way there and picked up some canned food and a pair of flashlights and batteries. After the quick stop we headed out of town. It was about noon when we finally got to the mouth of the cave. There weren't any lights or anything inside and it looked a bit spooky to be honest.

"Well, I guess we better get going." Phillip said, not even slightly enthusiastic as he peered through the black cave.

"I guess your right," I replied with a grin. "Here, you take the point!" Phillip playfully punched me in the arm.

"Yeah, right." He said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, just get Ivysaur to go in first! He can take it I'm sure!" I said with a bigger grin. Phillip punched me again. A little less playfully this time. "Owww…okay, okay, I'm going." I muttered, and made my way into the cave, with Phillip following close behind. We clicked on our flashlights and shone them against the crags and stalagmites that hung from the ceiling like fangs in the mouth of a beast. We crept on at first, slowly and cautiously but eventually our confidence grew and we started walking at a more normal pace. The cave was dark, let me tell you. There was almost no light, save for our flashlights. We finally arrived at a place to rest after nearly an hour of walking in the darkness. There were a few relatively smooth rocks that we were able to sit down on and some light filtering down from a crack in the cave ceiling above. It helped us to overcome that sort of creepy feeling that you're buried beneath the earth. We were taking a drink of some water because the cave's humidity was pretty bad and we were fairly sweaty by this time, when we heard a strange screeching sound that echoed off the cavern walls. We looked around frantically, as if we expected to be able to see anything through the darkness. The screech continued and grew louder each second. Then there were two screeches, then three and then four. Soon there was too many to count. The whole cave was filled with the high-pitched screams of hundreds of Zubat. We could see a few flickering through the limited light here and there but we were nearly completely blind otherwise.

"Holy…" Phillip gasped. The Zubat began to dive bomb us. They would swoop in and hit us in the head or bite at us and our clothes. We tried to cover up and duck as best as we could, but it was no use. I could feel the attacks as they bit into my arms and legs. It felt like hot knives were slashing at me. I could feel blood trickling down my legs and arms as the bats continued their assault. I was swatting like mad, hitting them away, but there were just so many of them. One of them got at my face and I felt a searing pain rip through my body as it managed to sink one of its teeth into my forehead. I struggled and broke away from it but when I did it flew the opposite direction and tore a large gash in my face. Blood began to fog my vision as I tried to stop the bleeding while still fending off the assailants. Phillip had managed to back into a small corner and was fending off the Zubat fairly well considering the situation. I, however, was not so fortunate. Batting away the bats as best I could with my hands and flashlight, I knew that there were far too many of them and couldn't keep up the battle for much longer. Through the pain I managed to reach over to my left wristband and seize Snorlax's Pokeball. I tossed it out into the cave and after the intense flash of red light the ball returned to my hand and Snorlax was left staring into the dark, fending off the Zubat as much as desperately as I was. Several Zubat squealed as Snorlax's paw connected with them in midair, stunning them and flinging some others away back into the abyss. But it wasn't enough; there were simply too many of them.

"Snorlax!" I yelled over the screeching as I swung at the Zubat. "Aim Yawn attacks up into the air, now!" Snorlax understood and began doing just that. The Yawn bubbles were large enough that they would connect with several Zubat at a time. Countless Zubat began to fall from the sky like fighter planes that had taken fire. Phillip was able to use the confusion to bring out his Ivysaur, which was spreading its Sleep Powder into the sky, forcing still more Zubat to come crashing to the damp cave floor. From out of nowhere though, a piercing screech rang out, drowning out all the Zubats noise. Phillip and I covered our ears as the screech grew louder, threatening to deafen us. Strangely, all the Zubat began to back off and fly back up and out of our way. Snorlax, Phillip, Ivysaur and I all fended off the last few remaining Zubat and then began searching with our flashlights as best we could. All the sound had stopped completely now, and the eerie quiet had us both shaking like little kids. We moved our beams slowly across the cave walls and ceilings, probing the darkness for the source of the horrific noise. Then, in my beam, a flash of shadow, larger than any Zubat, and quite a bit faster too. The thing whipped through the beam of light and disappeared again into the darkness.

"D…did…did you see that?" Phillip rasped.

"I…I sure did." I managed to reply softly. Then all of the sudden, there was the sound of an impact and Snorlax groaned and rocked forward, just catching and holding itself up on a large rock in front of it. Whatever this thing was, it was serious and had attacked Snorlax.

"Snorlax!" Phillip yelped. Snorlax couldn't do much though, as the thing continued to slam into it. The attacker was so much bigger than the Zubat but was so silent in its flight. Phillip looked over at me. "Brian, I think it's a Golbat!" I nodded.

"I think so too, but how do I fight it? We can't see a thing! There's hardly enough light coming down from the crack in the ceiling…" the idea hit me hard and sudden. "Snorlax, aim a Hyper Beam at the roof!" Snorlax obeyed and the blazing stream of energy illuminated the cave as it tore through the air and blasted the cave ceiling. Rock and dust rained down like a meteor shower and Phillip and I dashed over to the wall for cover, Ivysaur and Snorlax trailing us at our heels. When the dust had settled however, the much of the cave was lit up from the sun, now shining directly through he roof. We could see it then, a huge Golbat, fluttering soundlessly back and forth through the cave and the remaining shadows. Snorlax looked in bad shape so I called it back into its Pokeball. Besides, I wanted to battle this thing on its own terms. So I immediately called out Scyther from its ball.

"Scyther, scy!" it said, raring for battle.

"Scyther!" I told it. "We have to fight this thing in the air, so go say hello!" Scyther barely acknowledged the command before it blasted into the sky like a rocket. It wasn't as quiet as the Golbat, but it could defiantly match it for speed. "Scyther, catch up and give it a Slash!" I commanded as I cupped my hands over my mouth to amplify my voice. Scyther blazed through the air and cut to the left to catch the Golbat. It delivered a cold-blooded strike to the surprised foe. The Golbat screeched in agony but it recovered quickly and bit into Scyther's shoulder, the same one that has been hurt about a week earlier. Scyther grimaced but refused to cry out in pain. It bit down harder and I could see blood trickling to the cave floor below. Scyther was in serious trouble. "Scyther, you have to disengage it now! Back off!" Scyther swatted the Golbat and managed to land a partial blow to its head with the flat side of his bladed am. The Golbat reeled and released its grip as blood that would have been sucked up by the vampire Pokemon flowed freely. I called for a Quick Attack but as Scyther blazed through the air to meet its foe the Golbat nimbly dodged the blow and delivered a Wing Attack to Scyther as it flew past him. The force of the attack sent Scyther slamming into the wall. The bleeding had worsened and blood gushed from several wounds now. The Golbat fluttered in and clamped its jaws down on Scyther's shoulder again. This was not turning out well at all. My Pokemon managed to swat the Golbat away enough to escape. Scyther landed near me and tried to use its scythes to stop the bleeding a bit as the Golbat shook out the cobwebs from Scyther's last attack. We needed to do something to end this battle quickly before the loss of blood could become too severe. The Golbat was charging through the air now, its fangs glistening with red plasma as it came in, thirsty and ready to suck more blood. I intended for it to do no such thing. "Scyther, dodge it with Double Team!" I called. Despite its bad shape, Scyther obeyed and vanished like some shadowy ninja into a swirling circle of blurry illusion clones. The Golbat realized too late what had happened as it bit down on a clone which disappeared. We had to seize the opportunity. The Golbat turned and began retreating to a higher elevation having become a bit flustered at Scyther's disappearing act. This was the chance we needed. "Scyther, hit it with Pursuit!" I called. I couldn't see Scyther myself, but I and Golbat both heard its war cry as it suddenly appeared seemingly from the darkness itself and struck the Golbat hard with its wings. The Golbat went spinning around end over end like an out of control planet on its axis. "Follow up with Slash!" I told him. Scyther faded away into the abyss again only to reappear less than a second later on the other side of the dizzied bat, and delivered a huge Slash to the blood-thirsty Pokemon. The Golbat had had it and plummeted towards the ground. It crashed there into the rocky terrain and remained motionless. I tossed a ball at it and after a very short time of resistance the Golbat was mine. Scyther returned to the ground and nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Phillip and I both dashed over to it and began to try to stop the bleeding on its shoulder. I applied nearly a whole can of potion to the wound and then bandaged it up with one of my spare t-shirts. It was clearly tired but seemed as though it would be okay. No doubt the blood loss had it feeling a bit woozy at least.

"Wow Brian, who knew your Scyther was such a cold-blooded battler?" Phillip grinned, obviously impressed. I could do little more than grin back.

"I _know_, did you see that? He was like some stone-cold ninja! That was so sweet!" I crowed, swelling with pride even as I tied a cloth around my head. "Scyther, 'nice job' just doesn't cut it pal. That was fantastic work!" Scyther only smiled mildly and closed its eyes with a small sigh. I called it back into its Pokeball for some well-earned and needed rest.

"I think we better get going," Phillip commented. "That took a lot of time and Scyther really needs to get to a Pokemon Center as soon as possible." Phillip looked at me. "You need a doctor pretty bad yourself, and I have more cuts then I ever though possible," he muttered, glancing down at his bloodied arms. "Let's get out of here." I nodded in total agreement.

"Yeah, you're right, let's get moving." We gathered up our stuff, battered and bleeding almost as bad as Scyther from the ordeal, and continued our trudge through the cave with more caution than before. Thankfully we were able to make it through the rest of the cave with little incident. I felt bad because we were forced to stop a few times on the way on my account. I suppose I had lost more blood than I though because walking was quite a strain and dizziness never left me. By the time we reached the exit of the cave and emerged back into the blessed sunlight I was holding on to Phillip to help me stay on my feet. We reached a clearing that was almost immediately after the cave's exit and collapsed to rest for a moment. I really wanted to continue to the Pokemon center as I was worried about Scyther but my body simply wouldn't keep going that far without periodic rest. I reached into my pack and drank some water from my canteen as Phillip glugged down some from a bottle. I sat breathing heavily and lowered my head, feeling as though I might vomit. The dizziness was really bad but the bleeding had stopped at last and I was beginning to feel better, if only slightly. Phillip was cut up pretty badly but he had gotten off a lot easier than I had.

"Hey, are you ready to keep going? I mean, can you stand back up yet?" he asked. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I think so." He moved to help me up but dropped me when we heard a loud shriek from the treetops. We both looked around frantically to find the source of the terrible noise. Our fears were made a reality as a large Pokemon soared out from a huge oak tree in front of us. It was a Pidgeotto, a large bird Pokemon. Its dull tan color blended into a blur with the clouds as it went screaming over our heads. It turned back towards us and dive-bombed us again. Somehow I managed to ignore the agony and scramble out of the way in the nick of time. It flew over to its tree and landed in a big nest on a lower branch that we hadn't seen. We were in its territory. _Just great._ I thought. Phillip climbed to his feet quickly and moved to stand in front of me.

"Don't worry, let me handle the big turkey." He called back over his shoulder to me as he reached for his Pokeball from his belt. Good thing he was ready, I was in no condition to battle anymore and my Pokemon certainly weren't. He tossed the ball out and it exploded in red light as his Ralts appeared. She looked right at the Pidgeotto and yelled at it, seeming pretty angry.

"Wha…what's up with your Ralts?" I stammered, surprised by the little Pokemon's angry outburst. Phillip just shrugged.

"I don't know, she gets like this sometimes, I guess she's kinda protective of us," he flashed a sideways smirk. "She reminds me of my mother sometimes..." Phillip's attention snapped back to Ralts as the Pidgeotto took flight from the branch and aimed straight for her. "Ralts, use your Barrier!" Phillip told her. Ralts' eyes lit up with violet light as a shimmering transparent wall of psychic energy appeared in front of it. The Pidgeotto saw what was happening and flared its wings. It was able to slow enough and then climb into the air and only scrapped its belly on the psychic shield. It soared into the sky and circled back around, this time more cautious of the Pokemon it now viewed as a threat instead of a pint-sized pipsqueak. It dived down and spilled air from its wings as it swooped in low. It fluttered just short of Ralts and flapped its wings violently, kicking up a tornado-like Gust attack. Ralts' Barrier attack had faded by now and she was caught up in the cyclone of wind and sand and was sent spiraling into the bushes behind us. Phillip looked back anxiously and called out to Ralts to see if she was okay. His little Pokemon emerged from the brush a moment later and ran back over towards the Pidgeotto. The bird Pokemon came at it again and kicked up another Gust with the beats of its large wings. "Ralts, use Confusion!" Phillip commanded. Ralts' eyes sparkled with its psychic power. The Gust attack that was bearing down on it was engulfed in a blue glow and reversed course suddenly and instead slammed into Pidgeotto. It staggered back into the air but recovered from the attack and aimed its beak straight towards Ralts as it dived at it again. Pidgeotto blasted through the air like a bullet as it turned its dive into a Quick Attack. Ralts didn't have time to dodge the speedy onslaught and Pidgeotto's beak connected with the little Pokemon. It fell back and winced as the attacking bird soared into the air once more. Phillip and I could see the Pidgeotto was getting tired from flying around so much and battling as well as taking Ralts' attacks. It was getting careless and dived towards Ralts once again. Phillip saw this and took his opportunity. "Ralts, dodge with a Double Team!" he told it. Ralts blurred from sight and blended into a small army of illusionary Ralts copies. The Pidgeotto dived right through a fake and slammed into the ground. It wobbled around and fluttered weakly as it tried to climb back into the air, but it was too slow and dizzied from the crash landing. "Ralts, take it down with Psychic!" Phillip yelled. Ralts' whole body illuminated a blinding purple glow of energy. It released a shockwave of psychic energy that traveled through the air and across the ground, ripping a trench of earth away as it went. The Pidgeotto didn't even know where it was anymore as it flopped around in midair just above the ground. The powerful psychic attack bashed into the bird and it went flying through the air, only to crash into the trunk of a massive tree. It fell to the ground completely knocked out. Phillip grabbed a spare Pokeball from his belt and slung it towards the fallen Pidgeotto who was barley able to put up any fight at all and within a few seconds Phillip had a new Pokemon. He called Ralts back to its Pokeball and collapsed next to me on the ground. "Whew, what is it, do we have targets painted on our chests or something?" he asked rhetorically as he took another swallow of water from his bottle. I would have congratulated him but I was just so worn out still I didn't even feel like opening my mouth. He stood up after a few seconds and helped me to my wobbly feet. Well, all things considered it had been quite an active day, to put it most inadequately. After gathering up our things we continued on towards the Pokemon Center. When we finally got there the sun was setting. It cast a warm and inviting glow across the building and it was most likely just about the most beautiful building I had ever laid eyes on. Phillip and I managed to drag ourselves inside and shuffle up to the front desk. Nurse Joy was no where to be found but there was a small service bell on the desk so I rang it. The soft ding was followed by someone's voice from the back room calling "Just a minute!" It was a woman but not Nurse Joy. Office Jenny appeared from the room and walked over to the counter. She took a good look at us and gasped. Our clothes were tattered and our hair was messy. I had a large cut running from above my right eyebrow down across my eye and down my check nearly to my jawbone. Blasted Zubat. I was lucky I still had my eye at all. Phillip didn't fare a whole lot better; his hat looked like an Ursaring had used it as a chew toy for a few years and he had several minor little abrasions all over his arms and shoulder, which protruded from a rip in his jacket, but at least he didn't have anything too serious. We looked like we had been sent to war and back in a day. I was pretty sure we had. Officer Jenny looked horrified.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you two? Did you get mugged?" her face instantly twisted into anger. She whipped out a pad and looked back at us. "Okay, give me a description of the perpetrators!" Phillip remained silent and I managed to speak up.

"Oh, they were about yay tall," I told her, holding up my hands about a foot apart. "They had these really sharp looking teeth and wings as well. And there were a lot of them too." Funny how things like this always seemed to bring out this sarcastic side of me. Officer Jenny looked a little upset at my sarcastic response but I guess she decided to let it go.

"So you got attacked by Zubat, is that it?" she asked, not amused with me. Then her face brightened a bit with understanding. "Oh, did you two just pass through Igneous Cave?" Phillip spoke up, not wanting me to further anger Jenny nor make us look like fools.

"Yes m'am we did." He told her, giving me a quick glare. Officer Jenny nodded.

"There has recently been a rash of illegal digging operations in that cave." She picked up her walkie talkie and clicked a button, stopping the static that radiated from the speaker. "This is Jenny, Officer 279. Do you read me?" A moment more of static before the reply came.

"This is Jeffery 409, go ahead Jenny." Came a crackling male voice.

"We have a possible code 37 in the cave again. Can you check it out, over?" More static.

"Sure thing, I'm near their now. Stand by, over." We stood their, me barley able to keep my feet, bloodied and torn to pieces while Jenny waited for a response. After a good five minutes the radio crackled to life again. "Jenny, this if Jeffery 409, code 37 confirmed. There was only two of them though, and we got them. Heading back to book them, over and out." Officer Jenny smiled brightly at us.

"So that was it. Those operations in the caves really get the Zubat riled up a bit. It can make traveling through there quite dangerous. But thanks to you boy we caught two more criminals. The Zubat can rest easy tomorrow!" She smiled even more. Phillip was could see that I was about to say something along the lines of "Oh, good for the Zubat, as long as _they're_ okay…" and nudged me as he shot me another icy stare to silence me. Officer Jenny understood I think. She placed he hands on our shoulders. "I'll understand if that's of little consolation for you guys though." She said with a concerned smile. She turned back towards the counter and hollered. "Nurse Joy, we have a few trainers out here who could really use your help!"

"I'll be right out! I need to finish up with this Zubat; it was brought in a little while ago in bad shape." I'm telling you, the irony of my life is just a little on the heavy side at times. Officer Jenny turned around and saluted me and Phillip.

"Thanks for your cooperation and the best of luck to you both!" With that she marched out of the Pokemon center and disappeared around the corner. Nurse Joy came out at that moment and smiled.

"So, what can I do for…" she trailed off and gasped as she got a good look at us. She rushed around the desk and started looking us over. "Oh my, you both need some first aid right away!" she ushered us into an examination room and had us sit on two separate tables. She began to collect various bottles and things from the cabinets on the plain white wall. She came over to me but I stopped her before she could get started.

"Actually, Nurse Joy, I'm more worried about my Pokemon, especially Scyther. I can hold out for a while more, just please help them first." She smiled.

"That's awfully nice of you but you could have a serious infection," she said, eyeing the gash across my face. "Your friend needs help pretty badly too, I simply can't let you sit here untreated any longer."

"Please, I'm really concerned about my Pokemon, please look at them first." She looked a bit torn. Then she got an idea.

"Chansey! Chansey I need you all in her now!" she called out the door. In less than a minute four Chansey wearing little nurses' caps had assembled inside the room. "Chansey, please administer first aid to these trainers, I need to look after their Pokemon." The Chansey nodded in unison and Nurse Joy left in a hurry after collecting our Pokemon. The Chansey sprung into action like a well oiled machine. Phillip had two of them attending his cuts and mostly just simple band-aids and antiseptic spray were sufficient, but my face was in bad shape from one of those Zubat that had nearly bitten a piece out of me. Actually it just may have succeeded. As one of the Chaney was slapping band-aids on some of my more minor cuts the other one fished around in a drawer and produced a small brown bottle. I squinted until I could read the label and when I was able to make it out all the blood drained out of my face; Iodine. The Chansey moved towards me with a cotton swab dabbed with the killer liquid. Though it hurt to move I started to get up to leave.

"Oh that's okay, really, I have some antiseptic spray in my backpack," I lied with a cheesy smile. "I'll just…" The Chansey cut me off by calling the others. They rushed me and pinned me down to the table. I struggled as much as I could but who knew Chansey we actually strong? The three of them were more than enough for me in my weakened condition, but I struggled anyway.

"Chan-sey!" the one with the wand of doom cried happily with a smile as it stabbed at me with the swab.

"No, oh God, no! Don't do this, please!" I pleaded with it as I bobbed and tried to dodge the swab. The Chansey was un-phased though and anticipated my move and caught me with it, pressing it into the gash several times.

Let me tell you, if you have never treated a cut with Iodine, much less an extremely severe one in a sensitive area like your face, you can't imagine the pain. You just can't. I jerked involuntarily as my muscles contracted out of reaction from the agony. I hadn't screamed like I did then in years, but who wouldn't? It was like searing fire, burning through my whole body. The stout group of Chansey-turned-orderlies held me to the table though as the one with the swab continued to put more iodine into the wound, happily swabbing away as I writhed in absolute anguish. Nurse Joy, apparently hearing the roars of suffering rushed into the room and saw what was happening. She grabbed the swab from Chansey's hand and commanded the others to back off.

"Oh my gosh, Chansey, didn't we have any Hydrogen Peroxide?" she asked. The Chansey seemed to understand what it had done now. Like the screams of agony hadn't tipped it off. "Brian, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Nurse Joy asked me, her voice full of concern.

"I…I'm just…fine…" I managed to squeak, my vision blurry as my eyes watered on their own.

"Chansey means well, I assure you, it just isn't used to treating humans." Nurse Joy explained. The Chansey looked over at me. It seemed like it was about to cry and had the look of a puppy left out in the rain. Those eyes, those darn manipulative eyes. How did it make me feel like I had done something? I felt so guilty for some reason that when it came over to me I gave it a pat on the head.

"It's…okay…Chansey…I know…you were only trying…to help me out." I wheezed. The Chansey smiled a little bit and then left with the rest of them. Nurse Joy offered to finish cleaning my cuts, thank God, and I wasn't about to refuse. Although I wasn't entirely sure I had any skin left on my face for her to doctor. She actually had to give me a few stitches. She said she was out of painkillers. I started to wish for the Chansey to come back during that little experience.

"I apologize again, but we don't get many human patients." She smiled. "I'd imagine you'd like a room for the night?" she asked. I managed a decent nod. "Okay, right this way please." She responded and started to lead us out of the room. I looked over at Phillip who had this amused look on his face, like he wasn't sure weather he should laugh or offer condolences.

"Just…don't start…just don't." I moaned, rolling my eyes as he started to open his mouth. He fell silent but that blasted smirk stayed right on his face. We trudged back into the main hallway in time to see Nurse Joy rummaging behind the counter for the key to our room. She found it and handed it to us; room one, which was actually visible just down the hallway to the left of us. It was a good thing too; I doubt I could have made it much farther, let alone up any stairs, in my condition. Phillip opened the door and tossed our stuff on the floor. He closed and locked the door and turned around in time to push me to the right so I fell on the bed instead of the floor when my legs went out from under me. It was no surprise either. With what we had been through today and then the Chansey and how I had not been sleeping well, it all came together in that moment. I think Phillip said something about taking a shower but I was already mostly asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Phillip:_

Brian just sort of started to fall down all the sudden, like he couldn't keep standing anymore. I managed to shove him in the direction of the bed though so he fell there instead of on the carpet. He looked totally beat, and who could blame him? How many times since we started traveling together had I seen him awake at night, pacing the room or just staring at the ceiling? What was wrong? What had him so rattled or confused or whatever was wrong with him? Whatever. Questions could be answered later and I didn't want to or feel like prying into his life. He was a good person, that much was clear. So I felt I could trust that whatever his reasons for hiding the truth were that they were good. I ripped off my clothes (well, they were already halfway there due to the Zubat attack) and took a shower. The hot water stung all my cuts pretty badly, and the soap was worse, but I was really too tired to care about a little stinging sensation. After all, who would I have been to complain after what I had just witnessed happen to Brian? That Iodine, wow, it just hurt to watch it, you know? Like when you're watching a guy grind a rail on his board and then he falls and straddles the bar? Ouch. It just hurt to watch, and all you can do is just wince. Could I take a little sting? Sure. The shower made me feel a lot better but I was still exhausted. I dropped onto my bed and zonked out within a few seconds I think. The next morning around eight I got up and decided to have some breakfast. Brian was still asleep, in the same position he had been in when he had collapsed there the night before. I headed downstairs to the Center's Cafeteria and got some eggs and bacon. They were out of toast, unfortunately, so I tried a bagel. It was okay, a little stale though. I guess getting fresh food way out in this area wasn't all that easy. The eggs were fantastic though. Whoever the cook was had to have been some kind of master chef. After breakfast I headed over to the front desk. Nurse Joy was entering in some reports or something at her computer and a few people were milling around in the lobby. I walked up to her and she smiled when she saw me.

"Oh, good morning, ummm, Phillip was it?" she asked. I nodded.

"That's right. Mornin' to you too," I replied, still a little groggy. "Ummm…I was just going to check on our Pokemon and make sure everything is okay." She nodded with understanding.

"Oh okay. Let me see…" she started typing quickly, bringing up reports of some kind I suppose. "Phillip, your Ivysaur and Ralts are doing just fine. Your Pidgeotto had a small bruise on its left wing but it isn't anything serious and should heal in a day or two," she continued typing. Her face turned a bit grim suddenly. "Brian's Pokemon…," she started slowly. "Aren't as good. Snorlax is doing okay; it just needs some more rest. However Golbat has a severe laceration on its stomach. Also, I believe it may have a mild concussion. Scyther may be the worst off. It seems to have lot a substantial amount of blood. It also has a fracture on its right arm and the blood loss has it so weak still that it can't seem to keep its balance." She looked away from the computer screen and at me. "It wouldn't be wise to move them just yet, I would suggest talking it over with Brian and seeing if you can stay a day or two here. We'll monitor their conditions and they should be ready to leave in a couple of days. After that I would strongly suggest they keep out of battles for a week or so. Scyther's shoulder was nearly ripped to shreds and Golbat's cut could open again with too much exertion."

"Okay, I'll let him know," I told her. "When he wakes up that is." Nurse Joy looked surprised and glanced at her watch.

"He's still asleep? It's almost noon! Is he okay?" she asked me, her eyes full of concern.

"I imagine so, yesterday was just rough. Really rough. I mean really, really rough. Like the roughest day of my life. And it was worse for him. Those Zubat were really after him and if you ask me he's lucky he got out with only a few scratches and some ripped up clothes." She nodded.

"Oh my. In that case just let him sleep until he is ready. His Pokemon need more rest too, and so I think it would be best for you two to stick around for a while."

"Yeah, I think you're right," I agreed. "Can I get my Pokemon back now? Then I think I'll head out to the pool since we're staying for a few days." Nurse Joy smiled pleasantly.

"Sure, hold on for a moment." She walked behind the counter and went back into the back room to retrieve my Pokemon. She brought them to me and we exchanged smiles before I left. I went back to the room and changed into my swimsuit and ratty old white t-shirt I never could bring myself to throw away. Brian was still knocked out, so I left him a note and headed out to the pool. I called out my Pokemon and dived in head first to the icy water.

_Brian:_

I woke up suddenly, sweating all over. I remembered the dream too well; my father, chasing me with a bottle of Iodine. _Blasted Chansey._ I thought with a sigh. _My dreams were bad enough already._ I stood up and winced on my right leg. There was a large gash there that hadn't been discovered until Nurse Joy took over my treatment. Praise the Lord. I hobbled into the shower and ran the warm water on myself. I burned everywhere. Who would have ever thought that a bunch of Zubat could cause so much trouble? After the shower I got dressed and began to wonder where Phillip had gone until I saw the note on his bed: _"Down at the pool, come on over if you can!"_ it read. The idea of swimming didn't sound all that good but the thought of relaxing in a lounge chair sure did. I ate a sandwich first though and headed slowly over towards the main desk. When Nurse Joy saw me she jumped up and asked if I needed some help.

"Oh no, no, I'm okay, really," I reassured her. "It just really hurts to walk right now." I said, leaning over on the desk to take some of the weight off my bum leg. "I just wanted to check in and see how my Pokemon are doing." She looked at me kind of funny.

"Didn't you talk to Phillip yet?" she questioned.

"No, I think he's over at the pool now. I wanted to check on my Pokemon first before I go out to the pool." She nodded and got that "Ah, I get it" look on her face. She gave me a rundown of everything. Not good news. I had hoped to never hear words like "concussion" "fracture" and "severe" when talking about my Pokemon. But she said they would pull through just fine with enough rest. "Oh, good," I breathed a sigh of relief. "If that's what they need then we'll stay here however long we need to. Is Snorlax okay to come with me now?" I asked her. She nodded with a smile.

"Yes, he should be just fine now, let me go get him for you." She went off and disappeared into the back room and emerged a minute later with my Pokeball.

"Thanks," I said appreciatively. "I guess I'll head to the pool now." I told her.

"Wait Brian," she called, stopping me. "I don't know if it would be a good idea for you to go swimming right now. I think I'd be better if you just took it easy." I smiled back at her.

"Are you kidding? Swim in chlorine water with these cuts? You couldn't _pay_ me, Nurse Joy!" she smiled back.

"Okay then, be careful." She told me.

"I will." I called back. Using the walls for a little additional support I made my way down the hall past the rooms and took a left to get outside by the pool. When I reached the outdoors I could see Phillip was drying as he lounged in a pool chair off to the right side of the pool. His new Pidgeotto was perched on one of the branches of an old oak tree near the back of the pool, apparently asleep, Ivysaur was relaxing next to Phillip while Ralts seemed to be wandering around looking at the flowers and plants that peppered the outskirts of the pool area. Phillip looked to be reading some kind of manga book at the moment but noticed me stumbling about like a crippled old man. He got up and pulled another chair over next to his from the other side of the pool. I dropped down in it, thankful for being off my feet again.

"Hey, you're awake," he said. "You sleep okay?" I shrugged.

"Pretty much I guess," I replied, trying to sound casual. "Sorry about kinda collapsing like that." He shook his head.

"Nah, don't be. Give us both a chance to relax for a few days. Not to mention the Pokemon."

"Yeah, I think we need to hang out here for a few days, Scyther and Golbat are in pretty bad shape." I told him. He chuckled a little.

"You're not looking so good either, man." He said with a wink. I groaned a little.

"I heard that," I replied. "Man, I'm sore all over. I'll be fine in a few days. Just as long as that Chansey keeps away from me." I said darkly. Phillip just laughed.

"I would have helped you out but, hey, those Chansey looked like some rough customers." He snickered. I rolled my eyes.

"I know, what was with that anyway? Who knew Chansey are so strong," I muttered. "Or so sadistic. Sheesh." I tossed Snorlax's ball and Snorlax appeared in a flash of crimson light. "Hey Snorlax," I greeted him with a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Snorlax, lax, lax snor." It replied cheerily. Then it got this really sad and worried look on its face. It clomped up to where I was laying and started poking me and turning me over, inspecting all the cuts and gashes and slashes all over me.

"Ouch! Hey Snorlax, thanks for the concern but I am just a _teensy_ bit sore!" I yelped. Snorlax immediately backed off looking sad and really sorry.

"Snor…" it moaned in sorrow.

"Hey, hey, hey, its okay buddy, lighten up," I told him quickly. "You didn't know, and for crying out loud at least you weren't _trying_ to kill me…" I trailed off, thinking of the darned happy little Chansey again. Snorlax still looked like guilt was weighing him down but seemed to accept this. "Why don't you go swimming, huh? You always liked that." Snorlax almost instantly cheered up and smiled brightly as it spun around and dashed towards the big pool, the ground shaking beneath its feet. "Wait, Snorlax, no!" I yelled at it but it was too late. Snorlax sailed through the air and splashed into the pool. And when I say splashed I do mean splashed. The pool did a pretty good imitation of a geyser as water erupted from it and sloshed all over us, Ivysaur and Ralts. Ralts hung onto a little bush and kept from being washed away in the wave of water and Ivysaur, Phillip and I just got drenched. The chlorine water hit every cut and abrasion on my body. This was not fun. This I didn't need.

"Oooo…wow that's gotta hurt, huh?" Phillip commented dumbly as I began to writhe in pain on the lounge chair. I grabbed one of the towels that Phillip had not used and dabbed up as much of the water as I could. Phillip picked up a towel of his own and called Ralts over and began drying off his Pokemon and then himself. I gently dabbed my skin dry so as not to irritate the various cuts and gashes that were healing. Snorlax didn't seem to notice all of this as it floated quietly in what was left of the water with a stupid grin on its face. I dried off the lounge chair and lied back down.

"Sheesh," I breathed. "Was I made to suffer or something? It's all a bit too much at times." Phillip gave me a half smile.

"Well you know what they say about those that have such horrible runs of luck…" he commented as he stared off into the sky. I glanced over at him.

"Yeah, what?" I asked, intrigued. He turned towards me.

"Oh, heh, I don't know, I was just making conversation." He told me with a sheepish smile. I rolled my eyes and then closed them, trying not to focus on the diminishing pain. We just lied there for a while, not talking but just relaxing, letting the past twenty four hours drift out of our minds. Our Pokemon seemed to have the same ideas as they all were resting or just enjoying a quiet time outdoors in their own ways. I sort of shifted back and forth between alertness and a really light sleep. The sun began to set around six and we all just sat around and watched it in silent appreciation as it began to move behind the mountains to the west of the pool area.

"Well," I grunted as I stood up slowly. "I think I'm gonna hobble back inside and get some dinner." I called Snorlax back into its Pokeball and made my way back the short distance to the building. "You want to come?" I asked Phillip over my shoulder. He shrugged slightly and shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be in a little later a guess," he jerked a thumb over to the tree where Pidgeotto rested. "It would seem a shame to wake him up." I nodded.

"Yeah, okay. I'll catch you later then." He gave me a quick wave and I slowly made my way back into the building and back to my room to change. Once I had gotten regular clothes on I hobbled down the halls and ordered a smoked turkey sandwich in the Center Cafeteria. I ate it slowly and gazed out the windows at the forest, covered now by night's shadow. It was a nice view, really peaceful. It wasn't the type of thing you get used to growing up in a large city, even one that's surrounded by thick woods. I finished my light meal and headed out to the lobby. Nurse Joy greeted me and told me that Scyther and Golbat were doing better and showing good progress. I thanked her and walked over to the couches and chairs to the side of the front desk. I plopped down on a faded red couch and picked up the current issue of Pokemon Friends and flipped through it, reading a few select articles. _Interesting stuff._ I thought. _Guess I'll have to get a subscription sometime._ I relaxed there for about a half an hour and made small chit-chat with a couple of lady trainers about general stuff. I excused myself after a bit and headed back for my room. Phillip wasn't back yet and I considered talking a shower but the thought of more water scared me away. Besides, the chlorine from the pool water was pretty cleansing, right? Well, that's how I justified it in my mind anyway. I leaned back in the recliner and clicked on the TV as I propped up my legs on the chairs foot rest. I flipped around from news to a basketball game and finally settled on the Viridian City Pokemon Pairs Tournament. There were going to be some good matches, or so I had heard. The first battle was what appeared to be a couple with a Ninetails and Fearow which were up against a pair of brothers with a Wartortle and a Snorlax. I think you can guess which team I was cheering silently for. The Snorlax/Wartortle team advanced and the second match was just getting underway when Phillip arrived back at the room.

"Hey," I greeted him without taking my eyes off the screen. "Did you eat anything?" He nodded and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Whatcha watching?" he asked curiously. I jerked my head towards the TV.

"Viridian Teams Tourney." I replied casually as the Kadabra and Jolteon on the screen got knocked out by a Venusaur's Solarbeam. Phillip lied down on his stomach and muttered "Sweet" at the sight of the triumphant pair of Venusaur and Onix. We watched all the rest of the matches, whooping like a couple of idiots as most of our favorite teams advanced. The tourney lasted for a few more hours and at the end the Snorlax/Wartortle using brothers won the whole thing in a battle with a Scizor and Ampharos that lasted a full twenty minutes. It was just classic. I clicked the tube off as the battling brothers lifted the huge trophy high above their heads and began to celebrate their victory.

"Good stuff," Phillip said with a small yawn. "I think I'm gonna hit the sack now.

"See you in the morning." I told him as I rose from the recliner and headed into the restroom. When I emerged Phillip had rolled over and was sound asleep. I felt a little sleepy myself but knew that there was no way I'd be able to fall asleep. I turned off the lights and crept out of the room. It was nearly midnight now and as I walked into the lobby Nurse Joy was shutting down her computer and getting ready to head off to bed. She noticed me and looked at me strangely.

"Brian? What are you still doing up? Is anything wrong?" she asked concerned. I waved her off.

"Oh no, no I just couldn't sleep I guess." She nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I shrugged.

"It's okay; I've been this way a lot lately." I told her. She looked even more worried.

"Well, is there anything I can do to help?" she implied. I thought for a moment and was about to tell her no but then a though occurred to me.

"Actually, do you have a public computer with internet access?" I inquired. She nodded at me with a smile.

"Yes, it's upstairs on the top floor at the end of the hallway in the meeting room." She told me. I thanked her and made my way towards the staircase halfway down the corridor past my room. It took me a while to make it up the stairs to the third floor; I was feeling better all the time but it still wasn't too easy to walk around a lot. I reached the third floor meeting room and walked through the open door. One of the female trainers I had met in the lobby earlier was finishing up something and getting ready to turn off the computer.

"Hey, um…Christina was it?" She turned around and smiled at me warmly.

"Yeah, that's right Brian. Need something?"

"Oh, yeah, the computer if your finished with it." She nodded.

"Yep, sure am. Time for bed," she said with a yawn. "Aren't you going to bed too?" she asked me.

"Later I guess. Can't sleep." I explained. She gave me a small smile.

"Oh, to bad. Well, it's all yours," She said as she rose from the chair and made her way past me and towards the door. "'Night, Brian." She said with a wink as she left.

"Good night." I called after her. I shuffled over to the computer and entered my trainer number and password to open my Global Trainer Network account. I opened a browser and decided to check my email. There were three new messages. One was from the Organized Pokemon Tournament Association. I opened the mail and read it. It was announcing a free entry to the Vermillion City Teams Tournament, like the Viridian one Phillip and I had just watched, which was taking place in three weeks. I read through the information and saw the prizes section near the bottom: $5000 cash prize and two ferry tickets to anywhere in the world for first place, along with cash prizes for second and third place finishers as well. The tickets caught my attention. If we one them than that was one less thing we would have to buy. And we were heading to Vermillion soon anyway. I printed the online flyer, planning to show Phillip in the morning. I returned to my inbox and saw one of the other emails was from Misty, an old…friend and pen pal of mine for years, who was one of the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym's leaders. I clicked it and read the message that popped up a few seconds later.

"_Brian, I'm so glad you're coming for a visit! You, you know, you don't come nearly enough. Of course it's okay if your friend comes along too, the more the merrier! I can't wait to see you and catch up on old times; I already have the guest room ready for you. See you in a few days!"_

_Misty_

I smiled as I returned to the inbox once again. Misty and I had met years ago when we were both kids and had become fast friends. She was a bit temperamental at times but was really sweet. We had kept in touch over the years but hadn't seen each other since I made a visit to Cerulean after she had returned from some really extensive traveling with a couple of other friends. It was going to be really nice seeing her and her sisters again. I scanned my inbox and read the sender of the last message; "JoyofNursing8708"; Nurse Joy from home. I wasn't sure I could open it. I hadn't seen or talked to her since I had left home. I finally got the nerve up and clicked the link to open the message and read it slowly:

_"Hi Brian, how are you doing out there? You're dad came in the other day and posted a missing flyer for you. Did you really run away? I am very worried about you, you know. Why did you leave? Is something wrong? Please get back to me when you can, I'd like to hear from you."_

_Friends Always,  
Joy_

I just sat in the chair for a while and stared at the screen, not knowing what to say in the reply. What could I say, that my dad was a criminal? That I left and now he was looking for me to keep me quiet? It all sounded a little bit too dramatic, and even though I knew she would believe me there was no way I was going to dump all this on her and worry her that much more. I thought for a moment and began typing my response.

"_Hi Joy! I'm doing just fine out here, I met up with a new friend and caught a Scyther and a Golbat already! I know, I ran away, but my father would have never let me leave on my own. I had to go, Joy, I just had to. Something out in the world is calling my name and I have to answer it. I'll be fine, so please don't worry about me."_

Always Thinking of You,  
Brian

Well, it was about as best as I could come up with without straight-out lying to her. I considered being a bit more detailed but I was sure that she might tell my father, thinking it out of my own good that he know where I was. I couldn't let that happen though. I sent the message and surfed the net for a while, not really doing anything or going anywhere. At about three a.m. I got tired of it and shut down the computer and headed back towards my room. The hallways were pretty dark now as the entire center was asleep but there were still enough lights on so that I wasn't walking blind. I got back to the room and crept inside as quietly as I could and lied down under the covers, trying to fall asleep. But I just couldn't get my brain to stop going and my worries to subside, so I lied there awake the rest of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Phillip:_

We stayed at the remote Pokemon Center for two more days as Brian and his Scyther and Golbat recovered some more. We finally headed out again after four days of downtime. Nurse Joy gave Brian a bunch of stuff to continue treating Scyther and himself before we left, and then we were off. We didn't travel quite as fast as before because Brian still wasn't a hundred percent, but we made decent time. We headed northeast and spent the night in the inn at the town of Occey, too small and out of the way for a Pokemon Center to be built there. They did have a Pokemon Clinic that was run by a nice old lady named Dr. Joyce Ugurashi, and she was pleased to see how well Scyther was doing after hearing the tale of the Zubat cave and all the horrible details. We headed out of town and passed through some hill country before finally reaching Cerulean City. After so long out in the middle of nowhere and staying over in so many podunk little towns and villages the big city was a welcome change. Not that we didn't enjoy spending time out in nature, but we were just a little tired of it all at the time. We passed up everything else in town and headed straight for the Cerulean City Gym where we were to meet up with Misty, a Gym Leader there and one of Brian's old friends. We were walking past a shop full of clothes and appliances when a guy came out from behind an alleyway and snatched Brian's duffle bag off his shoulder. The shady looking character sped off at top speed through the streets and down another ally. We ran after him, although I was out running Brian of course. He still wasn't quiet up to so much excitement and exertion just yet. We asked a few people along the way if they had seen a guy dashing around with a blue duffle bag and they all pointed us along until we came to Cerulean Park. We began searching the whole place and just when we were about to give up we turned the corner of a small souvenir stand and found him. The guy was rummaging through the bag and didn't notice us at first, and only saw us once I got behind him and blocked off his escape route.

"Hey, give me back the bag now, punk!" Brian hollered at him. The guy scrambled to his feet.

"Not a chance, its mine now." His hand moved to his belt and he grabbed a Pokeball there. He flung it into the air and out came a Dodrio. I and Brian both backed up to give them some room and then Brian called out Golbat. The two stared each other down for a moment and then the battle began.

_Brian:_

One thing after another after another, it just never seemed to fail. The Dodrio looked angry and ready to tear a hole in me, but then again Dodrio have never been known to be friendly Pokemon. I called out Golbat and our Pokemon sized each other up.

"Dodrio, attack it with Drill Peck now!" the thief commanded his Pokemon. The huge three-headed bird leapt up into the air and aimed its beak right at Golbat.

"Golbat, move out of the way and counter it with Wing Attack!" I yelled up to him. Dodrio, while flightless birds, can jump like nobody's business. The big turkey came right at Golbat but he was too fast for it and dodged out of the way, slamming his foe back down to the earth with his wings. The Dodrio managed to land partially on its feet and kind of roll with the attack. Its trainer called for a Tri-Attack and each head charged up a shot of a different type. The multi-colored beam blasted towards Golbat but he was able to dodge this attack as well. This Dodrio was obviously a poorly trained Pokemon. I decided I could probably end the battle quickly with some luck. As the bag snatching trainer called for another foolish Drill Peck I had Golbat counter it with a Confuse Ray. Golbat's eyes glowed and dark flashes of light surrounded and enveloped the Dodrio. When the dust settled so to speak the triple-headed Pokemon was staggering around squawking like a total buffoon as the three head began attacking and pecking at each other. Dodrio are so much fun to confuse. I called for another Wing Attack and Golbat struck the bird hard with its wings, bringing the overgrown chicken down, unconscious. The thief thought better of attacking us and decided that a bag full of clothes and personal items wasn't worth it. He called back his Pokemon and dashed off through the bushes. Phillip walked over to me.

"Nice going," he complemented me with a grin. "What was with that guy? Was he pathetic or what? I shrugged with an evil smile.

"Heh, I mean really, steal from me? It only brings trouble, I tell you!" I called Golbat down and it landed on my shoulder. "That was some nice work, Golbat." It screeched softly in triumph and I put it back into its Pokeball. I went over to my duffle bag and knelt beside it on the ground. My clean clothes were no longer clean as they lay strewn across the dirt and it looked like the guy had made off with about twenty bucks. "Dang," I muttered under my breath. Wasn't this just like my luck? I mean how many more things could happen in one month? Really, it was just ridiculous. I snatched up all my clothes and crammed them back in the bag and zipped it up, and shouldering the bag Phillip and I continued or walk towards the Gym, both of us grasping our things a bit more tightly.

"So," Phillip said slowly, considering. "What's the real deal with you Brian? I mean I try not to pry, but you've run away and are being really careful to stay out of sight and all. You can't sleep at night, I've seen you," he looked over at me. "I mean, insomnia is a serious condition. I wouldn't normally say things like this, but it really isn't a good idea to be traveling around, tiring yourself out and all without getting any sleep." I didn't know what to say. I realized that I was sleeping poorly. Well, that was an understatement. I hadn't slept at all in the last forty eight hours, roughly. I felt tired all the time but I just couldn't sleep.

"Hey, I mean, I sleep. Maybe not that well but you know, it's not like I don't sleep at all." I mumbled, lying through my teeth. Phillip fell silent for a moment.

"Well," he began finally. "I guess I can't force you to tell me anything. But I know you're hiding something Brian. I just wish you could tell me about it." I thought about telling him everything. I wanted to blurt out the whole story right then and there and get it all off my shoulders. But I just couldn't. I don't know why. I guess I just felt it was my fault somehow. I don't know.

"I…I just can't right now." Was all I managed to reply. Phillip didn't say anything more for a while. I guess we had grown pretty close over the last few weeks. I didn't blame him for being angry or upset or whatever for my secrecy. But he seemed to understand. At least a little. We trudged on in terrible silence as people milled about us down the streets of Cerulean. We finally made it to the Gym, which was near the center of the huge city. The outside had changed since the last time I had paid the sisters a visit. The building was just as massive as ever and reminded me of a huge glass fishbowl because there seemed to be more glass windows than brick and mortar. What can I say? It was a Water-Pokemon Gym. Four archways covered part of the Gym and the center two led to the front doors. We made our way towards the rightmost entrance and walked through into the Gym as the sliding glass doors parted for us. The interior had been redone as well. I guess that kind of thing is to be expected when four women are the ones that run the place. We walked through a massive lobby which was peppered with aqua-blue couches and chairs and glass-top tables. There were a few plants scattered about but mostly the room's emptiness and soaring crystal-clear glass ceiling, which filtered in the sunlight, made it feel as though you had walked into the ocean. It was more than a little impressive. Phillip let out a low whistle.

"Nice." He said softly, gazing awestruck at the massive expanse of the room.

"I heard that." I replied softly. All the sudden I heard her voice.

"Brian, oh my gosh it's really you!" Misty came running over through the lobby and Phillip and I tried our best not to look like a pair or little kids staring at something so cool for the first time. Misty rushed up to me and jumped on me, embracing me in a hug. A pretty painful one considering that I still wasn't over all my injuries.

"Mmmm…" I tried to hide the pain as well as I could so as not to make her feel guilty. I could see Phillip wincing out of the corner of my eye. She let go of me and took a step back, looking me over.

"Wow you've gotten so tall Brian, you used to be barely bigger than me and now you're like seven feet tall!" she said, exaggerating. I gave her a crooked smile.

"Seven feet? Ummm…more like six four, dork." I corrected her.

"Sure, whatever you say, looser." She shot back playfully. She seemed to notice the scar across my eye and face. "Oh wow, what happened here?" she asked as she touched the area with her fingertips. I tried not to flinch noticeably. I took her hand away from my face.

"Well, there were these Zubat," I said darkly, remembering the cave. "Long story short, they decided they didn't like me too much," I jerked my thumb back towards Phillip. "They didn't care for his company too much either." She looked over to Phillip.

"Hey, you must be Phillip right?" she asked him with a broad smile. Phillip took a small step forward.

"Yes that's right. Misty was it? Nice to meet you." He replied. She smiled again.

"Nice to meet you too." She said sincerely. "So, did you guys enjoy your trip over here?" she asked. We both glanced at each other.

"Uh…some of it…" I told her carefully. I knew she would only keep pressing if she thought I wasn't telling her something. "There was the Zubat attack in Igneous Cave," I said. "Then earlier today some guy mugged us and made off with this," I continued, holding up my blue duffle bag.

"And then of course," Phillip began with a grin. "The Chansey…" He just stood there grinning like an idiot. I thought I might smack him but Misty cut in.

"The…Chansey?" she repeated, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at me waiting for an explanation. I sighed.

"Ummm…well you remember that time like, what, seven years ago? When I crashed my bike and you grandmother was visiting and decided she would help me out? Well it was that all over again, except here," I said, pointing to my face scar. I also started pointing out other marks on my legs and arms. There were plenty. "And here, here, here, here, well, pretty much everywhere." I finished grimly. Her eyes got wide as she realized what I meant.

"Oh no. Ouch," she gave me a funny looking 'poor guy' kind of smile. "I mean, ouch."

"Tell me about it," I grumbled with a roll of my eyes. The mood lightened a little after a couple more seconds of us standing around feeling sorry for me.

"Well, it sounds like you guys have had quite the adventure. Here, let me show you to your rooms. I had better get dinner started." We followed her through the rest of the lobby and took a right at its end as we began walking down a long hall. We took the stairs at the end of the hallway and arrived at the guest rooms on the second floor. Misty swung open one of the doors. "Well, here they are," she smiled at us. "Hope everything's comfortable, just hang out here or walk around or something until I can get the food ready, okay?" We both nodded at her.

"Yeah that's fine; just yell at us when you're ready." I answered her.

"You should probably take a quick nap; I bet you're pretty tired from the trip here." Misty suggested.

"Well, not really…" I muttered grimly. She looked at me funny for a second but decided to let it go.

"Okay then, do what you want. I better head over to the kitchen. See you two in a bit." She turned on her heels and started off down the hall and disappeared around the corner on the west side.

"Well," I said. "I guess I'll just lie down for a while. See you later." I told Phillip.

"Yeah sure, see you then." He replied before I closed my door behind me. I dropped my bags and stuff on the floor next to the bed and plopped down on the soft mattress. I was so tired that I thought I might actually be able to sleep for a while. I closed my eyes and surprisingly I fell right to sleep.

_Phillip:_

Brian closed the door of his room behind him and I stepped into my room. The guest rooms appeared to be all the same; sandy-tanish carpeting, cream-colored walls and some basic furniture. There was a full-sized bed, a small desk in the far corner of the room next to the window, and a comfortable looking recliner situated in front of a medium sized television set. In the far left corner of the room was a door leading into the restroom, and aside from these things the room was left bare. Not that is was really all that big. I tossed my bag on the desk and flipped off my shoes as I dropped down on the edge of the bed. I was a bit worn out but not sleepy so I decided to channel surf for a while. I shuffled over to the recliner and took a seat as I clicked on the TV with the remote. I clicked through the channels, passing up a few sitcoms, a golf tournament and some local newscasts. I continued to move through the channels until I stopped on one that had Professor Oak on it. He was standing in front of a dry-erase board a lecturing about Pokemon evolution. I listened in for a while as he discussed evolutionary stones and evolution "branches" as he called them. I began to doze off a little bit when a knock came at the door, jarring me from my half-sleep state. I clicked off the tube and glanced at my watch; it had been about twenty minutes already.

"Who is it?" I called through the door.

"Por, poreon!" came a muffled answer. Poreon? Who was that?

"Just a minute!" I shouted back. I climbed out of the chair and moved over to the door. I opened it and was greeted by a Vaporeon. "Hey, cool, a Vaporeon." I commented with a smile. The water Pokemon returned the gesture and it was then that I noticed a small card in its mouth. "For me?" I asked and held out my hand. The Vaporeon dropped the card into my hand and then turned around and took off down the hallway. I pulled the card towards my face and read it.

_"Hey guys, dinner's read! Come on down to the dinning room. Don't expect anything too special, I never could cook, one of my friends had always handled that the past few years. See you upstairs!"_

_Misty_

_Well, _I thought to myself as I read the part about not being able to cook._ This oughtta be interesting._ I pocketed the note and knocked on Brian's door. I waited for a few seconds and then knocked again; there was no answer.

"Brian, you in there man? Dinner is ready!" I hollered through the door. A few more seconds and still there was no answer. I decided to try the doorknob; it was unlocked, so I entered. Brian was lying on the bed completely unconscious. I hadn't seen him asleep like that in almost a week. I moved over to the bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't move at all. The only sign I had that he was still alive was the steady rising and falling of his chest. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly with still no response. "Brian, wake up, come on we gotta go eat!" I said in a loud voice. I shook him more violently and suddenly he jerked like he had been punched and sat bolt upright in the bed.

"Don't go!" he screamed. I jumped back a bit from the sudden movement and outburst. His face looked really pale and he was breathing heavily. He looked around confused for a second or two and then put his head in his hands as he realized it had been a dream. He wiped the light sweat from his forehead and swung his legs over to the floor and stood up slowly. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you Phillip." He said in a shaky voice, almost a whisper. I have to admit that, sadly, I wasn't all that surprised.

"Brian, I mean, maybe you should see a doctor, you know? I mean, it's not normal to not sleep for days at a time and then when you do sleep for just like a half hour you have these horrible nightmares." He didn't say anything for a moment.

"Nah, I'm okay, it won't last forever. I just have a lot on my mind right now. Don't worry about it." He said, brushing me off. Again with the secrets and lies.

"Fine, whatever," I replied. There wasn't any talking to some people I guess. "Dinner is ready, this note said to go upstairs to the dinning room." I told him, taking the letter from my pocket and handing it to him. He took it with slightly less shaky hands.

"Oh yeah, I know where that is, let's go." He said, seeming grateful for an excuse to walk away from any more discussion. I decided it was just better to let it go. Anyway, if I ever did decide to press him about things it wouldn't be when he was rattled or coming out of a rough dream. We left his room and I followed him as he headed down the hallway to the right of our rooms and then up a flight of stairs at it's end. After we reached the end of the staircase we headed around a corner to the north and walked halfway down another hall until we came to a room where the door was slightly ajar. Brain knocked and then opened the door without waiting for someone to give him permission to enter. I followed him and we came into a large dinning area. The carpet was a brilliant red and connected to eggshell white walls with paintings of people and Pokemon hung there in elaborate and expensive looking frames. The table was made of fine oak that had a simmering coat of gloss and was long enough to seat five people comfortably on each side and then on person with plenty of room at each end. A huge white tablecloth with embroidered edges lay across the table and a fabulous centerpiece made with what seemed to be hundreds of kinds of flowers and many candles dotting it took its proud place not only in the center of the table but the entire room. Misty was setting the table with fine looking china, the kind I wasn't sure if people should be eating off of. She looked the same as she had when we arrived at the gym; her nearly shoulder-length red hair hung untied down her head and her bright eyes complemented her amber locks well. She seemed to favor swimsuits a lot as she was wearing a deep blue one-piece suit with the emblem of a Poke'ball on her chest. She wore a pair or lighter blue shorts and a completely see-through silk shirt unbuttoned over it all. She had removed the sandals she was wearing previously however. She looked over and registered that we were standing there gazing around the room, amazed like a couple of total peasants who had stepped into a mansion.

"Umm…guys? Are you okay?" she asked us as we shuffled around slowly, taking in the sheer extravagance of the room. I was pretty much at a loss for words and Brian couldn't manage much.

"Misty I…I love what you've done with the place." He whispered. She smiled and shook her head.

"I guess you two have been away from civilization for a long time, huh?" she said with a soft giggle.

"No civilization ever had rooms like this…" I muttered. We finally snapped out of it after a while and took our seats near the southern side of the table. Misty sat down on the left side and I took a seat opposite her as Brian was ushered to the head of the table by Misty.

"The man of the house sits at the head of the table," she said matter-of-factly as she raised a finger in the air. "And since you're the only man in this house, you're it."

"Ummm…what am I then?" I asked, being sure I didn't sound too offended.

"Oh, well, I don't really know you that well yet, so I'll just stick with Brian for now." She told me with a wink. I smiled back.

"Oh, okay then. I guess I shouldn't say anything stupid since I'm getting a free room."

"Ha, you got that right, Phillip!" she chuckled, clearly joshing me.

"So," Brian began with mock fear. "Ummm…do I dare ask what's for dinner?" he trembled. Misty slapped his arm.

"Hey, be nice, it took me a long time to order all this." She told him as she whistled towards a door in the northeast corner of the room. I leaned over to Brian.

"Did…did she say 'ordered'?" I whispered to him. He waved me off.

"Trust me, when eating with Misty, 'order' is the best word you could ever hear. Misty turned her head back to Brian and shot him an icy stare.

"I heard that you know." She told him. Brain swallowed hard.

"Oh, well, you see, what I meant was that the shear exquisite flavor and decadence of your cooking is sometimes more than any man can…" Misty cut him off.

"Save it. I know I can't cook." She admitted with a roll of her eyes. She turned back towards the door. Brian let the air he had been holding in his lungs go and his face returned to its normal color. Just then the same Vaporeon came out pushing a small silvery cart with its head. It wheeled it over as the cart squeaked along softly. It brought it to rest beside Misty and at the sight of Brian is hurried over to him and jumped up on its hind legs, resting its front paws on Brian's leg.

"Hey, is this Eevee?" Brain asked with a huge smile. Misty nodded.

"Yes, well, was Eevee as I'm sure you can see. She has missed you so much Brian." Brian and Vaporeon looked absolutely joyous to be with each other. Brian leaned over and gave Misty's Vaporeon a soft hug and Vaporeon nuzzled him happily.

"Oh, it's been too long hasn't it Vaporeon? What, a whole year now? A year and a half?" He hugged it again. "I'm so glad to see you again." He said looking like a little kid who was greeting his mother after she had been away visiting relatives or something.

"Poreon, Vaporeon!" it cooed back softly. It dropped down on all fours now and smiled at Brain who patted it on the head. It lied down next to Brian's chair and looked very peaceful there.

"Well, without further ado, here is dinner!" Misty cried like a showman getting ready to reveal something spectacular. Show woman on second thought. She lifted a silver lid off of the cart and revealed three white pizza boxes. I could see Brian trying really hard not to fall over laughing and I couldn't help but let a smile creep over my face as well. Misty looked at us with a smirk. "Go ahead guys, laugh, I don't care and I know you want to." Brian had had it.

"If…you say so!" he managed to squeak between his lips before he was overcome and roared with laughter. Misty rolled her eyes. I was fortunately able to repress my laughter into no more than a soft chuckle. Brian sat there nearly in tears for almost a full minute before he was able to calm down and gasp for breath. "Misty…heh…you could have hung out with us by the pool or something for pizza. Why all of this?" Brian asked with a snicker as he swept his hands around the vast dinning room. Misty got a real sad look on her face.

"Well, I can't cook at all but you barley ever come to visit me so I just wanted to make it, I don't know, a little special." She said softly and looked like she might start to cry a bit. Brain's eyes widened and all the humor suddenly drained from him as he got this "DOH!" look plastered across his face. I shot him a bonus "Nice job, doofus!" stare just to make sure he felt enough guilt for what he had said.

"Oh, Misty, I didn't mean…I was just…" he picked up her hand in his and looked her in the eyes. "It is special, but not because of all of the fancy plates or the big room, but because I'm with you. I wish I could be more, I swear I do, but it just isn't possible." Misty nodded and breathed in deeply.

"I…I know. But I just wish we could spend more time together, you know, after last year..." She trailed off as she glanced discreetly over to me. I suddenly felt completely out of place, like I was a criminal for sitting there. I thought about excusing myself but Misty perked up a little, or at least pretended to and opened the top box. Jalapenos and Sausage; my favorite.

"How…how did you know?" I cried as I stared at the pizza. She gave me a puzzled look.

"Know…know what?" she asked as she cocked an eyebrow at me.

"T…that…" I cried, pointing to the pie. "That's my favorite pizza! Jalapenos and Sausage! We can't get jalapenos back where I used to live. I was lucky if I even had it once a year." Misty got a surprised look on her face.

"You're kidding, this is my favorite too!" she yelled excitedly.

"Ugh, you're both nuts." Brian grumbled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Misty jerked a thumb in his direction.

"He doesn't like it at all. He won't budge." I tried not to gasp too much.

"You…you don't? You monster, how could you not?" What's wrong with you?" I asked him, flabbergasted.

"I _know,_ right?" Misty said in total agreement. "Sheesh Brian, what _is_ wrong with you?" Brain rolled his eyes.

"Well Vaporeon agrees with me, right Vaporeon?" Brian told us confidently. Misty's Pokemon got up at the mention of its name.

"Vaporeon, you want this?" Misty asked it, holding up a Jalapeno. Vaporeon trotted happily over to her and accepted it in its mouth and gulped it down, smiling the whole time. "Well?" Misty asked, turning back to Brian with an amused grin.

"Traitor." Brian muttered as his eyes narrowed to slits. Misty giggled.

"Now Brian, don't go calling names just because you're totally out-numbered three to one." She scolded him. He dropped his head in defeat.

"Okay, okay, just tell me you got one…" he began.

"With extra cheese and light sauce?" she finished for him as she opened the second box. Brain's eyes lit up like a little kid in a candy store.

"Oooo…" he said as his mouth began to water. Misty served him a few slices on a plate and passed it to him. He began rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. I couldn't believe it.

"Plain cheese and light sauce?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, so what? You have a problem with it jalapeno boy?" he retorted defensively. I shrugged my shoulders.

"No I'm just saying, wouldn't it be cheaper to eat a loaf of bread with a slice of cheese on it? I mean, that's about what you've got there."

"Hey, there is some sauce you know!" he told me. He peeled back some of the cheese on a slice to reveal some slight reddish coloring on the crust underneath.

"Wow, you're right," I said with a smirk. "What was I thinking? Sorry about that." He narrowed his eyes again.

"Watch it…" he warned.

"Okay, okay, let's play nice, boys," Misty intervened with a sigh. "To each his own, okay? Let's just agree to disagree and think the others are crazy." Brian and I told her okay and we all began scarffing down the pizza.

"So," Brian asked between bites. "What's in box number three?" Misty looked over at it and nodded her head.

"Oh, I had a buy two get one free coupon so I figured I might as well use it," she explained after taking a sip from her coke. "I just got a regular pepperoni. I figured if we don't eat it I can just warm it up in the microwave some time." You could tell he resisted, but Brain saw the opening and took it.

"Really? So you finally learned how to work that thing? Don't all those buttons confuse you?" He asked her with a grin. She slapped him on the arm again.

"I've known how to use the microwave for years, I'll have you to know." She snorted, shooting him a frigid glare. But it was all in fun, you could tell. There was something else there too. I couldn't figure out what it was, but there was some kind of odd feeling in the room. I just decided to ignore it.

"So, how are your sisters?" Brian asked as they continued to chat.

"Oh you know them, they're out traveling the world again," she grumbled. "I keep trying to figure out where it is they could possibly go next. You'd think they could hang around at least a little bit from time to time, you know?" Brian shrugged with a small smile.

"If I remember correctly, it was you just over a year and a half ago who came back after several years out on the road with those two guys, am I right?" Brain told her as he cocked an eyebrow in her direction. She rolled her eyes at him.

"That was different, we were traveling on foot like you guys are and there were the three of them here to handle the Gym. Now," she said in a lowered voice. "Now they just leave me alone." Brian frowned.

"Hey, you aren't ever really alone," he said in a choked voice. "You have your Pokemon, and you have me…even when I can't be here…you know?" Misty looked really upset but nodded and tried to smile.

"Yeah I know. It's just really hard sometimes." Brain nodded back at her and then we continued to eat in silence. I got that same feeling again deep in my gut that even if they didn't think I was intruding that I was. I just had to get out of there and let them talk about whatever it was that they wanted to talk about, so I finished the pizza on my plate and was just about to excuse myself when Brian decided it was time he turned in. We both thanked Misty for dinner and offered to help clean up. She refused and sent us off to bed.

"Go on to bed, guys, I know you both must be pretty tired still." She told us, waving us off. We agreed and Brian said good night to Vaporeon and Misty and then we headed back towards our rooms. We walked the entire way down the hall and then the stairs and then through the other hall in total silence. He was obviously lost in thought and I didn't dare want to say anything, especially something like "What's the matter?" We opened the doors to our rooms and I was about to head inside mine when I noticed that he was just standing there, staring at nothing inside his room. We stood there for a good several minutes until he looked over at me. He looked pretty bad; I mean anyone who got as little sleep as he did wouldn't exactly look great but all this other stuff was piled on top now and he looked like the weight of it all might collapse him. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something to me, then he closed it and shook his head ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably.

"Phillip…" he started.

"Yeah?" I leaned over to hear him better because his voice was a crackled messy whisper. After a few seconds of silence he spoke again.

"Good night." He said. I didn't say anything for a few seconds and then returned the good night. He went into his room and shut the door, locking it behind him. I did the same and decided to take a shower. I changed into clean clothes afterwards and plopped down into the recliner. Why in the world would he not be able to talk to me? Didn't he trust me? There were too many questions I had but I still didn't think it was my place to go digging around for them. I decided that I just needed to hope that he would tell me sometime and in the meantime I needed to try to be supportive. He was obviously going through some kind of terrible times, that was for sure. I sat in the chair for a while and just kind of relaxed as I stared at the ceiling and walls. After a while, there was a quiet knock at the door. I snapped out of my trance and checked my wristwatch; nearly midnight. As I opened the door I thought that maybe it was Brain, finally ready to give me some explanations. But, to my surprise, Misty stood before my door.

"Misty?" I said. "Brian is next door," I told her. "He may not be asleep yet so…" Misty cut me off by putting her finger to her lips and making the 'shhhh' sound. I was surprised by this but I lowered my voice anyway. "Misty, is something wrong?" I asked her in a hushed whisper. She shook her head.

"Sorry to bother you at this time, but could you…ummm…come and talk with me for a bit?" she asked me. I couldn't believe she wanted to chat at that hour and with me no less. I mean, we had hit it off pretty well but I still barley knew her; what could she possibly want to talk to me about?

"Ummm…sure I guess." I answered. I figured there had to be a pretty good reason for something like this at midnight, and she seemed to want to talk without Brian knowing about it. I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door quietly behind me. She made a motion to follow her and so I did as she led me up not one but two staircases until we finally reached the roof of the Gym. She walked out onto the smooth paved surface and led me over to a small balcony that overlooked the Gym's outdoor Olympic sized swimming pool. The moon appeared to be nearly full and there were about a million stars in the sky, which was surprising to see in a big city like Cerulean. We sat down across from one another and Misty offered me a glass of water. "No thanks," I replied. "So, what exactly do you want to talk about with me?" Misty took a drink from her glass and answered me.

"I want to talk about Brian," she told me. "I can tell that there is something wrong with him, something or things are bothering him, a lot. He probably hasn't been sleeping much at all lately, right?" I tried not to look too surprised at her ability to somehow know all this.

"Yeah that's right. Unless he's asleep right now, I bet he hasn't slept but about three hours in the last four or five days," I told her evenly. "I don't really know what to do though. I suggested that he see a doctor but he just brushed me off. I don't really think there is anyway I can help him, but I'm kind of concerned because it's just not healthy to go like this without enough sleep. I mean, I don't want to be out in the middle of some mountain range and he just collapses from exhaustion, you know?" Misty looked really worried now. I hoped I hadn't made it sound worse than it was and worried her too much, but there was defiantly something wrong, no doubt about it.

"It's was never this bad before." She said in a shaky voice. This was big.

"Before? You mean this isn't the first time he's been like this?" I asked, intrigued. Misty shook her head.

"No, its not. About a year and a half ago when I had just come home from traveling Brian paid me and my sisters a visit," she began to explain to me. "Now, I've known Brian for years and years. We met at a convention that his mother and my sisters were attending in Pewter City. That was when we were like, oh, about six I guess. We're both nineteen now, so that's, what, about thirteen years? I mean we go way back. Anyway, when he last came here a year and a half ago he had the same problem, but it wasn't quite as bad. You know, his home life and all, well I suppose it just finally got to be too much and he just started to shut down." I interrupted her.

"His…home life, did you say?" I asked, curious. She nodded but then seemed to realize that he hadn't told me.

"Oh, he didn't tell you about it yet?" I told her no and she continued. "Well, I guess I shouldn't say anything then. I'm sure he'll tell you sometime but I think that should be up to him." I nodded.

"Okay, I can understand that. So, he had these same problems back then. So what happened? I assume he recovered?" She nodded her head.

"Yes. It took him a while to admit it, but I suppose he felt that he could trust me. So he told me everything. So much stuff was weighing him down it was no wonder he couldn't sleep. I would have nightmares too if I were going through all that he was," she stopped and took a few breaths before continuing. "I told him that it was perfectly okay, and that he could stay here as long as he felt like it. He hung around here for a couple of months, actually, just trying to forget everything. It took a while though. For the first few weeks I would find him up and swimming laps in the pool at three in the morning. After a while though he started to come around. We talked several times and sometimes even every day for about a week we would just hang out and work through everything. I think it helped him. After a few months had gone by he seemed better and told me he had to go back, he had to leave, even though he didn't really want to," her voice trailed off for a little bit as she apparently remembered painful things about that time. After a bit though she regained her composure and continued. "So he went back home and that was that, I suppose. We had grown really close though and after we…um…well...we emailed each other a lot. It just hurt to be apart from him." She stopped talking, apparently finished with the story. I kind of sat there for a while, taking in what I had heard. So this was a repeat of what had happened to him previously; a relapse into a disturbed mental state. Vivid nightmares, insomnia, it was all because of what? What was so terrible in his life to invite such horrible things into his dreams? Misty had mentioned something about his family life. Was that why he had run away? What was it that he was running from exactly? A death in the family? Something else? Who knew? The point, I realized, was that my friend was in a terribly unstable mental condition. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be able to move on for a while. I didn't know how long, but there was no way that he should keep traveling like this. At some time, the pressure and stress could become too much for him.

"Well," I began to talk to Misty after a moment of silence. "I guess we had better hang out somewhere in Cerulean for a while. Maybe you and I can get him through this too. I don't know how, but I think we have to help him." Misty nodded.

"Absolutely. I think I'll try talking to him in the morning," she yawned. "Well, I'm pretty tired so I think I should head off to bed. Good night."

"Good night." I called back to her as she left the balcony. I decided I should turn in as well and so I made my way back to my room and the last thing I remember is feeling guilty knowing I was about to drift off peacefully to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Brian:_

It was about three thirty and as usual I was no where near sleepy. I finally decided to get up and do something. The way Misty had looked at me, well, I knew she was on to me. She had to know, I mean how could she not? She knew me better than I knew myself and I had no doubts in my mind that I was messed up. I couldn't get her involved in this, not again. Not ever again. Our relationship had meant more after the events about a year and a half ago, and I just couldn't bear the thought of putting a strain or stress on Misty. I sat in the recliner for nearly two hours as I formulated a plan. I knew I couldn't stay, so I finally decided to leave. Right then. I packed up all my things and then found a little bit of stationary and a pen in the table's drawer that was near the window. I tried to think of the best way to tell her that I was leaving with all these problems but for her not to worry about me. I tried my best but I feel I may have not succeeded too well.

_Misty, I am so very sorry. I wish I could stay here with you longer but I just can't bring myself to put our relationship through such strain. I have to move on, even though I don't want to. It's just something that I have to do. Please, don't worry about me. I may have some problems right now but since I have you in my heart they will never get the best of me, okay? So please, don't worry. I'm always just an email away, and I'll do my best to check it as often as I get the chance. I'll return, I swear it. Goodbye._

_Brian_

It was about the best I could come up with in such a short time, but I hoped it would help her not to worry too much. I grabbed my backpack and duffle bag and strapped my wristbands on firmly, then left my room. I considered not waking Phillip up, just letting him be and not keeping him tagging along for the bumpy ride. I can't explain it, but something told me to wake him up. A gut feeling I guess. I knocked on his door softly and then a little bit louder when there was no response. I waited for a minute and finally Phillip opened the door and blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

"Brian? What is it?" he asked, confused.

"Phillip, I'm leaving now. If you want to come, then I would welcome it, but I'll understand if you don't want to be dragged along with me and my problems." Phillip rubbed his eyes and looked me over. He seemed to register what I was saying and saw my bags were packed.

"No, Brian, no, you can't go," he told me, suddenly very awake. "Brian, you are having some serious problems right now and the last thing you need it to head out on the road. You need to lie low here for a while, clear out your mind and get better, okay? We can go anytime, but I think it would be best if we stayed here for a while, okay?" I shook my head.

"No, not okay. I will not do this to Misty. She doesn't need or deserve this right now and I intend to leave before I can but any burden on her or our relationship. So that's why I'm leaving. The choice is yours you can come with me or stay here. But I'm leaving and I'm leaving now, so decide. Whatever you choose, just know that it's okay with me and that you're one of the best people I've ever met." Phillip looked like he might argue the point with me more but he instead fell silent for a while, just staring at me.

"Hold on a minute." He finally said, sounding more worried than angry, although that was there as well. He shuffled back into his bedroom and began packing his things up. He sat down on the edge of the bed and laced up his sneakers and then returned to the doorway, ready to go. "Don't think I'll let you go off on your own like this, you fool." He said, but most of the anger was gone from his voice. I was just about to cry. I hadn't expected him to come along. I thought he was a nice person but he would want to just wash his hands of the whole sticky mess and go his own way. I found a small thumbtack in the wall and used it to pin the note to my door. "Brian, are you sure about this? I mean really, really sure about this?" Phillip asked me. I nodded solemnly.

"Yes, it's the only thing I can do." Phillip said okay and then we left Misty and her Gym just before the sun came up.

We made our way quietly out the front door and headed towards the south part of the city. We stopped only briefly at a bakery and picked up a few bagels and doughnuts before we continued out of town. This early in the morning there were few people out an about; mostly a bunch of office building workers carrying their briefcases and looking like they had somewhere important to be. The sun was still partially hidden behind the mountains to the west of us, which of course was technically the east, and it bathed me in a warm glow as the dew began to evaporate from the plants in the city. We walked in silence for a long time, almost an hour, and even after we had put the city behind us. I couldn't believe the pain that was eating me up. I knew I had to go, but I wanted to just stop right there and not move. It was a terrible effort to keep my legs moving me forward. We headed south through a long stretch of open grassy planes. The wind was cool and blowing pretty good too, which had a totally relaxing affect on the tall fields of grass as it whipped them into calm waves like a beautiful green ocean. We could see Pokemon from time to time, darting through the grass; mostly a bunch or Rattata though. Flocks of Pidgey would fly by from time to time overhead and then they would land on one of the few trees that speckled the landscape. We made our way directly south for hours. It was around noon when we entered a pretty heavily forested area just north of the underground tunnel routes we had planned to take to Saffron City, which was on the way to Vermillion City. The forest was so thick that the trees crashed together and blocked out the majority of the sunlight. Although it was day you couldn't really tell. We traveled south through part of the forest and decided to stop in a clearing about a half hour later for lunch. The clearing was one of the few places in the forest where there was enough of a gap between the trees so the sunlight could fully shine through. Phillip went searching the woods for some firewood and I rummaged through my backpack to see what kind of things we had that I could cook. I found a couple of cans of alphabet soup and decided that would do. Phillip came back in a few minutes with some wood and I pulled out my old lucky Zippo and lit one of the smaller branches. The wood wasn't too old or wet so it caught fire pretty easily. Phillip pulled a small metal pot from one of his bags and set it up on a stand over the small fire. I poured the cans of soup into the pot and we relaxed for about ten minutes while it cooked. Phillip pulled out a potato he had and suggested we cut it up and add it to the soup. After the soup had finished cooking we ate it with some crackers we had and cleaned everything out with water from a steam that his Pidgeotto found about a quarter mile more south. After we had finished all of that and packed everything up we continued south through the remainder of the forest and finally broke through the end of it into another stretch of plains. The breeze picked up again outside the woods and compensated for the addition heat from the sun, now that its rays shone freely down on us. We chatted about this and that, with real particular subject to talk about, as we headed south towards the tunnel.

We finally arrived there around four in the afternoon and paid the dollar toll each. The tunnel entrance was a fairly normal looking building on the outside, white brick and only a few windows here and there. We entered through the doors and rode an escalator down into the tunnel. The tunnel system had been changed in the last few years; the tunnel actually went all the way through to Vermillion city, directly south of Saffron, but Saffron City bought into it and made a huge stop off point in the middle of their city. Through some places in the tunnel you could exit and be near some little town or something, but it gave you the feeling that the surrounding area was built around the tunnel. We planned that we would travel to Saffron and stop in the city for a night before getting back into the tunnel and continuing on to Vermillion. The tunnel used to be pretty plain but it had become a really big business and the rent on its property had skyrocketed. There were underground shops, restaurants and even a Pokemon Center that we planned on sleeping at for the night, since there was no way we could have made it to Saffron that day. We mostly just traveled on through the tunnel and only stopped briefly at a few stores. One in particular was a really nice and elaborate Pokemon gift shop that we just couldn't refuse to check out. Phillip bought a nice CD collection of music from his favorite anime shows. I found a book on Pokemon food. Suggestions and recipes for nearly every Pokemon known to man were inside the thick paper-back. I also found a cool little Snorlax pendant. Well, you know me; I just couldn't pass it up. We left the shop and continued down the tunnel. It was about seven now so the crowds of people had begun to dissipate and it was a lot easier to walk through the corridor.

"So, are you planning on being a breeder?" Phillip asked me.

"No, why?" I replied. He shrugged.

"You got that book on Pokemon food and I saw you giving Scyther something that smelled really funky yesterday. I just thought that people who study Pokemon food usually become breeders is all." I nodded.

"I guess. Well I've just been reading about it for a while. It always interested me, so I started making my own food. It was cheaper than store-bought food so I figured it would be a good idea. I always wanted to try out my skills with it," I told him with a smirk. "But Snorlax loves all food, so I never could tell if it was right. Then I caught Scyther and he seems to approve, so I guess I'm not a horrible cook," I rolled my eyes and frowned. "Now if I could just figure out how to cook actual _human_ food I'd be set." Phillip chuckled.

"You and Misty really are good friends; she must be rubbing off on you." He joked.

"Yeah, maybe she is." I said, saddened a little. Phillip could see he had said something a bit stupid.

"Oh, hey, sorry." I waved him off.

"Nah, don't be, its no big deal." We walked a ways more and Phillip decided to try lightening the mood with more small talk.

"So, can you make anything for Ralts?" he suggested. "She can be a little picky at times, so maybe it would be a good test for you."

"Hmmm…" I considered. "Sure, I'll give it a crack sometime. I have to learn some sort of recipe first and get the ingredients from a breeder's shop." He nodded.

"Cool." We continued walking through the tunnel until we finally reached the underground Pokemon Center. We were about halfway through the tunnel to Saffron, and it was already almost nine at night. We headed into the center, which was considerably smaller than most other ones we had ever been to. There was a small lobby in front of the front desk, where we checked in and received a room key from Nurse Joy. The rooms were in a small circular hall that led from one the left side of the desk around and back out on the right side. We got room number eighteen; there were only twenty rooms to begin with, so we felt lucky that we had arrived before they were all booked for the night. We entered our room and Phillip took the first shower as I brushed my teeth while I sat in a chair watching the news on TV. After he had finished I took my turn and we both turned in. I, surprisingly enough, was able to fall asleep rather quickly that night.

The next morning around seven we check out of the Pokemon Center and ate a quick breakfast at a nearby pancake place; Flapjack House. We were both surprised that pancakes were ever called that anymore, but they were darn good so we shut up and ate them. Afterwards we continued down the tunnel. The shops didn't open until eight so for a half hour things were pretty quiet, mostly just janitors and store owners, along with a few other trainers walking the opposite direction. Around nine things started to pick up and we actually had to watch where we were going so as not to crash into busy shoppers. Around noon we stopped in to a sandwich shop for lunch and took an exit nearby outside to feed our Pokemon. After they had finished eating and stretching we went back down into the tunnel. We were both grateful that we had the tunnel to walk in because just as we were going back inside the sky opened up and it started to pour. I mean the rain was coming down in _buckets_. So far the weather had been really nice since we had been traveling, but we both thought it was a good idea to invest in some ponchos, so we stopped by an outdoors supply store and picked up a pair of them. We continued through the tunnel all day long and finally reached the Saffron City exit at six. We went up the escalators to the outside and ended up in the north end of the city. Saffron may have actually been bigger than Cerulean. There were lots and lots of building everywhere and as we headed into downtown the buildings only became taller and taller. Most of the city was lit up even though it was dark out by the time we reached the Saffron City Pokemon Center. The surrounding buildings cast heavy shadows on the center and would have made it difficult to see had it not been for the many lights that hung from the roof. We walked through the lobby and checked in with Nurse Joy. We headed to the room we got and went to bed.

_Phillip:_

It was about three o'clock when we heard a crash outside of our room. Brian and I bolted up from our beds and searched for the light switch. Before we found it though, we both spotted a shadow that was visible under the door in the hallway's outside light.

"Phillip, grab your Pokemon and let's go!" Brain yelled. I snatched my belt from the table next to me as Brian finished strapping on his wristbands and flung open the door. We saw a broken vase that the intruder had knocked down and we caught a glimpse of someone running around the corner. We took off after him down the hall and caught up with the man in the lobby.

"Hey, hold on there!" I called after him. The man was in black clothes, or at least it looked that way since there was hardly any light coming thorough the windows. He tried the door but found it to be locked for the night. We both approached him and he turned around, being trapped. I saw a light switch on the wall nearby and flicked it on. A few lights near the door clicked on and revealed the man's true colors. And I do mean colors. His clothes were actually black as I had thought, but he wore what looked like a short-sleeved red over shirt that connected with an odd red hood with black ear looking things sticking up from them. On his chest was a sort of odd stylized "M". Defiantly weird. "What…what is he _wearing_?" I asked, trying not to laugh at the intruder's ridiculous looking Halloween costume. The man didn't seem to find anything funny about it.

"Hey look kid, let me out of here and nobody has to get hurt." He threatened, reaching for a Pokeball that was on his hip. Brian chuckled, obviously not too worried about the guy.

"Right, because we have the keys to the door," he shook his head with a smile. "Man, are they hiring anybody now? They must be desperate." I looked over at him puzzled.

"They? Who are they?" I asked him. He answered me without taking his eyes off the man.

"Team Magma. They're a criminal organization based on Hoenn. General bad guys, but most of them can't be as bright as this guy or else the group would all break into Pokemon centers late at night and then ask a couple of travelers for the door keys." Brian shook his head again and laughed some more.

"Hey, I'm not gonna be insulted by some little punk kid," the man said angrily, completely ignoring the fact that Brian, at six three, stood a good five inches taller than him. He pulled off the Poke Ball and enlarged it. He tossed it on the ground and in a flash of red a Mightyena appeared.

"Wow," I said. "I guess he really is from Hoenn, you don't see to many Mightyena here in Kanto." Brain looked amused.

"You really wanna rumble? Fine then." Brian jerked one of his odd looking poke balls from his wrist and called out his Snorlax. It appeared lying on the ground, totally asleep. My jaw almost fell to the floor.

"Brian? What are you thinking? How can it fight asleep?" Brian glanced my way and winked. Then he addressed the man in red.

"If you're sure you want to do this, then I'll wake him up. But you had better be ready. He doesn't like being woken up in the middle of the night you know." The guy seemed to be un-phased by Brian's threat.

"Just bring it on, kid!" he yelled back. Brian shrugged and let out an odd, low whistle. It was a tune I had never heard before but it sounded nice. He could whistle pretty well apparently, but I didn't see how it was going to help us.

"Ummm…Brian?" I said to him. He ignored me and finished his tune. To my and the burglar's surprise Snorlax began to stir.

"Snorlax, hey Snorlax, wake up, buddy." He told it. Snorlax moved around a bit and then slowly climbed to its feet. I had never seen a Snorlax woken up before like that. I guess Brian and Snorlax were really close. It stood up and rubbed its eyes. Then it looked back at Brian, a little annoyed. "Hey, don't blame me, it was that guy over there," Brian explained, pointing an accusatory finger at the man. "He tried to break into our room a little while ago." Snorlax spun back around and glared at the guy. I had never, ever seen Snorlax this angry. He was always so happy and kind, but no it just looked enraged. I almost felt like crawling behind the front desk from it. The guy didn't seem to be afraid of it though. He either was a stone-cold man who feared nothing or he was just plain stupid.

"Mightyena, use your Bite attack on it!" the guy yelled. The charcoal wolf-like Pokemon howled and then dashed forward. Brian didn't seem to be overly concerned and didn't even bother telling Snorlax to dodge it. I couldn't figure out why until I saw the Mightyena leap through the air, its fangs ready to sink into Snorlax. But it never happened. Snorlax raised its right paw and swatted it out of the air like a Yanma. Mightyena yelped and went soaring back the other direction and slammed into one of the doors, sending cracks going through the glass in every direction. If it hadn't been such thick glass there is no doubt in my mind that it would have shattered. The Magma man told his Pokemon to get back up and it obeyed as best it could, wobbling to its feet on shaky legs, but we could both see blood beginning to trickle out of its mouth. He had Mightyena bum rush Snorlax again like a fool, and once again Brian stood by silently as Snorlax sent it crashing back the other way, this time skidding to a halt on the slick floor next to its master's feet. It took the Mightyena a full twenty seconds to get up this time.

"Listen," Brian told the intruder. "There is no reason to drag this out. Why don't you just walk away and save your Pokemon the pain, okay?" The guy should have known sound advice when he heard it. But he didn't.

"Mightyena, what are you doing?" he screamed. "Use Double-Edge now!" The battered Pokemon charged in at full speed and caught Snorlax in the belly. It stumbled back and nearly fell over. The Mightyena flew back from the force of the attack as well. The guy called back his Mightyena, now pretty severely battered, and tossed out another Mightyena and a Camerupt.

"Hey!" I shouted at the guy. "You can't use two Pokemon! That's cheating!" I reached for Pidgeotto's Poke'ball and was about to join the battle when Brian waved me off.

"It's okay Phillip. There might come a situation like this in the team tournament in Vermillion. Besides," he said with a smirk. "This guy is pathetic. He couldn't beat us with ten Pokemon." They guy from Team Magma was really angry now.

"What did you say? That's it!" he hollered. He commanded the Mightyena to use Bite and the Camerupt to use Flamethrower. The new Mightyena dashed across the floor with its mouth open, its teeth gleaming like knives in the dim lighting that was on. The Camerupt launched a powerful looking Flamethrower that blasted through the room, instantly raising the temperature in the lobby many degrees.

"Snorlax, use your Mega Punch and then dodge!" Brain told Snorlax. His Pokemon obeyed. It struck Mightyena on the top of the head with a glowing "fist". We heard a horrible crunching sound as it smashed into the ground below. Blood began to seep out onto the ground in a large puddle around the Dark-type Pokemon. I didn't think Snorlax could possibly dodge the Flamethrower in these close quarters, and it didn't. Snorlax actually _picked up_ the Mightyena that had been knocked senseless by its Mega Punch, dripping blood everywhere as it was raised off the ground, and used it as a shield from the fiery pillar, like you see in movies, where the knights block the dragon's flame breath with their shields. The Mightyena yelped and squirmed around as the fire hit it, burning it badly. Once the Camerupt saw what was happening it quickly stopped its attack. All of us, Brian included, looked on shocked at what Snorlax had done.

"Ummm…Snorlax tends to get a little vengeful when it's woken up." Brian told me with a sort of weird look on his face. I nodded and made a mental note to stay far, far away from it in the future while it slept. Snorlax raised the squealing dog high above its head before slamming it back to the ground, splattering itself and the entire entryway in dark plasma, and then dashed towards Camerupt to hit it with a Mega Punch. The fire-type went screaming through the air and smashed right into its trainer, and the two of them fell back on the floor in a heap of people and Pokemon. "Snorlax, ummm…they have had enough, why don't we finish this, okay?" Brian called to his Pokemon. Snorlax turned and nodded at Brian. It reached down and picked up the well-done Mightyena. Its burns looked pretty bad and it was bleeding profusely, and I felt a little sorry for it since Brian had warned its trainer. Snorlax hurled it through the air and it crashed into the Magma man and Camerupt as they were trying to get to their feet, smearing them with blood and sending them crashing back to the floor and sliding around in pools of their own plasma. Then Snorlax unleashed a Hyper Beam. All the darkness left in the front lobby area of the Pokemon center was gone as the angry ray of intense energy blasted through the air. The walls that had been painted with blood were illuminated and it looked like we had stepped into a horror movie. The intruder and his Pokemon couldn't move out of the way because they were still trying to stand up and get their bearings back, except for the Mightyena. The Hyper Beam connected with them and washed over them with the searing energy. We could hear desperate screams and squeals from inside the beam of energy as it flared around them, engulfing them in its destructive force. Brian called for Snorlax to stop and it obeyed, worn out by the exertion. When the light faded we moved over to the group, who were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious and lying in smeared puddles of blood and pieces of flesh. The trainer didn't look too bad off, considering what had just happened. His clothes were horrible tattered and he had some pretty bad burns too. The Camerupt was just as bad; it had burns all over it and was bleeding from its side. The Mightyena, however, was the worst. It was more blood and charred flesh than fur, and we weren't even sure it was still alive. We got closer to it and saw that it thankfully was still breathing, but its legs were obviously broken and it was missing several teeth. It was all I could do to keep from vomiting at the carnage that lay before my eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped. I had never seen a Pokemon battle end this bad. That Hyper Beam was unlike anything I had ever seen; it was as if Snorlax's rage had fueled it. Just then Nurse Joy came out from behind the desk where none of us had seen her hiding.

"Oh my, I just called the Police, they should be here very soon," she reached where we were and stopped with a gasp. "Oh my goodness!" she yelled as she bent down over the Mightyena. She pulled a small communications device from her apron pocket and talked urgently into it. "Chansey, we have an emergency! I need a stretcher out in the lobby now, and prep for surgery!" Just then the Police arrived. Nurse Joy rushed to the door and unlocked it. A few officers swarmed in followed by Officer Jenny, stepping carefully so as not to loose their balance on the blood-slicked floor. An officer grabbed me and another one grabbed Brian, unsure of weather we were the ones called in about. Snorlax began moving towards them but Brian told it to back off.

"What happened here?" Officer Jenny asked, clearly stunned by the destruction that she could see.

"You can let those to go, they were the ones who protected the center from him," Nurse Joy told Officer Jenny, pointing to the man laid out on the floor. The two officers released us.

"Ummm…that guy over there tried to break into our room and we chased him out here," I began my explanation. "When he found out he was trapped by the locked doors he attacked us with his Pokemon. Snorlax…well…defended us, as you can see."

"That Snorlax did all this?" Officer Jenny asked with wide eyes. I nodded and I could see the other policemen inch away from Brian's Snorlax a little. "Alright, I understand. Get him outta here!" The two other officers pulled the guy up and cuffed him. He was in pretty bad shape so it was likely he would be headed to the hospital first. "I may come by later to get a few statements from you too if you're still in town." Jenny informed us. She saluted. "Thank you for your fine work here. Even if it was on the brutal side." Brian nodded with a slightly dark look on his face.

"I know, but I did offer him a chance to back down a couple of times." Jenny nodded, hoped on the motorcycle parked just outside the doors and speed off. Just then the Chansey arrived with the stretchers. They carefully loaded the battered Mightyena and Camerupt onto them and dashed off down the hall. Brian turned around and got Snorlax back into its ball.

"I had better get into surgery now," Nurse Joy told us. She looked over at Brian's arm and picked it up with her hand. One of the larger cuts Brian had gotten in the cave had been having a hard time healing and had opened up a little. "What happened here? Are you okay?" She asked, seeing the various other scars he had, most noticeably the one across his face.

"Oh yeah I'm fine. I just hit something in the dark back in my room during the confusion." Nurse Joy nodded.

"Oh I see. Why don't you come back with me? I'll be busy but I can have one of the Center's Chansey fix you up." She offered. Brian's eyes widened with fear and he jerked his arm out of her grasp.

"Oh, no, no, that…that's okay, I'll be okay, really!" he cried desperately. "I have some first aid stuff; I can take care of it!" Nurse Joy looked at him funny and then shrugged.

"Well, okay then. Hope you two can get some sleep now." She turned on her heels and took off towards the operating room. Brian let out a huge sigh of relief. I couldn't help but snicker a little. Brian looked over and rolled his eyes.

"Oh sure, laugh it up, Phillip," he said, annoyed. "Wait until it happens to you." We headed back to our room and he doctored up his arm before we went back to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Phillip:_

We managed to sleep the rest of the night without further incident, but needless to say we slept a little bit later the next morning than normal. I got up first, surprisingly, and dropped into the chair in front of the TV after showering to watch some tunes. Gotta love anime. After a while a message came through the door mail slot. We were to go meet the police in the lobby when it was convenient. Brian was actually getting some really good sleep, so I decided we would wait until he woke up.

"Good morning." I told Brian once he finally woke up and rolled over.

"Uhn, what's so good about it…" he moaned like a zombie. He sure wasn't a morning person. I chuckled.

"Actually nothing. The police are doing some full investigation thingy and their having us stay here for the rest of the day." Brian leaned over towards him.

"Are you serious? Sheesh." he groaned. Brian stood up from the bed and stretched his muscles before heading into the restroom for a shower. When he got out I had put on my shoes and was getting ready to leave the room. "What's up?" He asked suspiciously.

"They just called us out to the front for a statement, so fix your hair and stuff, okay?" Brian rolled my eyes and picked up the comb that was by his bed. He combed his hair until it looked presentable and got fully dressed. I waited until he was ready and then opened the door. We walked out into the brightly lit hall and made our way out into the front lobby. The place was busy with a bunch of police officers running around everywhere and trainers who were staying at the center like we were sitting on the furniture observing the chaos. The front entry way was blocked off by yellow police tape. Officer Jenny saw us and walked up, taking out a notepad as she approached us.

"Good morning you two." She said nicely but briskly. "If I could just get you're statements about this morning's events then we can finish up here and get out of your hair, okay?" I nodded. "Good," she said. "Now, how was it that you came to realize that the intruder was in the building?"

"Well," Brian began to answer. "We were both asleep at the time, when I started to hear and odd sound at the door. I've been a pretty light sleeper lately. I brushed it off at first but then I could see shadows moving around underneath the door and we both woke up fully when we heard a loud crash." Jenny nodded and scribbled on her pad.

"Go on." She instructed him.

"We both jumped up and grabbed our Pokemon and rushed out into the hallway, where we caught a glimpse of the guy heading around that corner," I said, pointing behind my shoulder into the hallway. "We chased him out here, and when he made for the door and found that it was locked, he was trapped. He called out a Mightyena and I called Snorlax and a battle ensued. I defeated his Mightyena and then he sent out a second Mightyena and a Camerupt, double-teaming me. I bested those two Pokemon as well and that's about when you arrived, Officer Jenny." Jenny nodded as she continued her furious writing. She looked up after a bit and closed the pad, returning it to her pocket.

"Okay then, that all checks out with surveillance. We thank you for your time, but we are closing the center for the rest of the day while we gather evidence from the scene and…clean up." She said, looking back over her shoulder. There was dried blood staining the polished tile floor and walls near the entrance to the Pokemon Center. "If it isn't too much trouble, it would be a great help if you two could remain here for the remainder of the day so as not to interfere with the scene. I nodded my head and spoke up.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem, Officer." I told her. She smiled and saluted us.

"Excellent, we thank you for your cooperation," she stopped from leaving though, for just a minute and looked kind of sadly at Brian. Then she just turned around and walked off.

"What was that about?" Brian asked, puzzled. I shrugged.

"Who knows? Oh well, let's go see Nurse Joy, find out how long the recovery for that guys Pokemon is gonna be." Brian nodded slowly.

"Yeah…I…I didn't mean to hurt them so badly, you know?" he asked desperately all the sudden. I gave me a small smile and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah I know. Don't worry, it'll be okay." We walked up towards the front desk where Nurse Joy was filing some papers into a drawer. She looked up at us and tried to smile, but it didn't look to sincere.

"Nurse Joy, how are you?" Brian asked her.

"Oh, I'm okay. You?" she answered sadly.

"Well, I'm okay. I was actually wondering how that guy's Pokemon are doing? Mightyena looked especially bad. How long until it recovers?" Nurse Joy looked at him with tears nearly filling her eyes.

"Oh, Brian, I'm so sorry but…I did everything I could…but Mightyena didn't make it." She told us, her voice full of grief. Brian's eyes got wide and his face went totally pale. He stumbled back and started breathing really heavy.

"N…no…I…I didn't mean to…that can't be…" he hit the wall and slid down it to the floor. He looked like he might start sobbing but he was apparently too much in shock to do that. He just stared at the ground stone-silent. "I…I killed it…I killed it…" he just sat there, repeating that over and over. Nurse Joy walked over next to him and bent down next to him.

"No, no Brian, you didn't do that. You were just protecting yourself. It's not you're fault." She placed her hand on his arm but he pulled it away.

"Please, don't touch me. Don't…don't look at me…" he sat there and began crying. Nurse Joy stood up and moved back behind the desk, she with tears streaming down her own face. I didn't know quite what to do. I had never had to face this kind of thing before, but Brian looked horrible. I thought I had better try something before he tried to commit suicide, which he looked close to.

"Brian, you didn't do anything wrong, okay? I know it's hard, but you can't beat yourself up for this. If anything it was that guy's fault for making his Pokemon battle like that. You did try to tell him to leave, after all." Brian waved me off.

"Just…please…just leave me alone for now…" What could I do? I said okay and headed back to the room. I dropped down into the chair but didn't feel at all like turning on the TV. What was I going to do? This was not going to help with the problems he already had. He sure didn't need this piled on too. I mean, I was no psychologist, how in the world was I supposed to help him? This is the kind of thing that can ruin a kind-hearted man like Brian. Was there any helping him at all? I sat there just staring off into nowhere for what must have been an hour when Brian finally staggered into the room. He didn't say anything as he sat and then lied down on his bed. He stared off into space for a long time.

"Hey Brian, let's go get something to eat, okay? I'm pretty hungry." I finally said. He didn't answer me. Didn't acknowledge me. He didn't even blink. I wasn't sure what to do next. "Okay then, you just hang out here and I'll go eat. You can always join me later if you want, okay?" No response. I got up and left since there was seemingly nothing I could do. I made my way slowly to the cafeteria, hoping that maybe he would change him mind and catch up to me. But it didn't happen. I ordered something, I don't even remember what, and ate with no real interest in the food. Brian never came to the eating area though. I went up to the counter and ordered him some food and carried it back to the room. He hadn't moved an inch in the hour I had been gone. I set the food on his bed-side table and dropped into the chair and turned on the TV, looking for some kind of distraction. I watched the news for a while and flipped around through some other channels, but my mind wasn't in it. We both just sat and lied around for hours and around nine p.m. I finally just didn't know what to think anymore so I turned off the TV and the lights and went to bed.

I woke up next morning around six and rubbed my eyes. Brian was lying awake on his bed, still staring out into nothing. I thought about saying something but what could I say? What could anyone say? There was a little light filtering in through the blinds on the small window in the back of the room and I used this to find my way to the restroom and the shower. When I got out, Brian was sitting up on the edge of the bed and was tying his shoe laces. I couldn't believe he was up around and moving all of the sudden having been on his bed for hours and hours with almost no sign of life. But there he was, wide awake and packing up his things.

"Ummm…Brian, what are you doing?" I asked him, already knowing the answer that I didn't want to here.

"I'm leaving." He said solemnly. His voice cracked a little bit; it was most likely the first thing he had said in twelve or more hours. "Come with me if you want." He continued getting prepared and then stood up and made his way to the door.

"Brian," I called him. He stopped near the door but didn't turn to face me. "I don't know if it's such a good idea to leave just now. Maybe you should rest here for a few days. Clear out your head, you know?" He just stood there in stone silence of a long time. He finally turned back towards me; tears were streaming down his face.

"I…can't do that Phillip. I have to put this behind me and not think about it…I just can't deal with anything more at the moment right now, okay? I can't face the fact that I'm…I'm…I'm a …murderer." I shook my head slowly.

"Brian, you're not a…" He cut me off sharply.

"Save it!" he yelled at me. "Just don't give me that crap, okay? The Mightyena was alive before it battled me, and when the battle was over it died, okay? That was me, Phillip. Snorlax and I. Nothing you can say will change that. Nothing anyone can say will change that, okay? So don't…don't even try." We both stood there in silence for a minute before he spoke up again. "Phillip, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." I nodded.

"I know, I know, don't worry okay? We'll get through this, okay? If you think that you're up to leaving today, then let's go ahead and go while its still early." Brian stood for a moment thinking of what to say.

"Thanks." He said at last before opening the door. We left the room and headed out into the lobby. All the blood was gone from the floor and walls. I was relieved at this; I had been worried that those reminders of the battle would still be there to haunt him further. Nurse Joy was behind the desk and gave us a small smile. She was doing better but the sadness was obviously still there.

"Good morning guys." She said. "Are…are you going to be okay Brian?" she asked. Brian nodded slowly.

"Yes, I think so. I...I'm very…" Nurse Joy cut him off before he could finish his apology.

"No, don't say it. You are not a killer, but the more you say you are or try to apologize for it then the more you will convince yourself that its fact." Brian looked really sad.

"Okay then." He gave in. Nurse Joy nodded.

"Okay then, if you are going to be leaving I'll take the key now." We handed it over to her. "Thank you for…everything. Goodbye then." She put the key into a drawer and went off into the back room. We turned from the counter and made our way to the door. There were several trainers scattered around the lobby, chatting or just relaxing, but everything stopped and quieted down when we began to pass them. They all stared at Brian as we passed, some with angry looks, some with sad looks and some that just stared at the person who everyone was talking about. I felt like telling them all off but that would have made Brian feel worse so I just walked on and was thankful when we exited the center. We headed down the street and took a right on the corner of Redwood and Sabrina, heading west for only about five minutes to the entrance to the underground tunnel. We showed the guard the ticket we bought when we first went into the tunnel south of Cerulean and he let us pass. We walked into the tunnel and headed south through the nearly empty halls. It was still early for the tunnels shops and restaurants to open so the tunnel was pretty quiet for the first couple of hours. After a while though the traffic picked up, as usual. Shoppers, sight-seers, trainers and security guards ambled through the tunnel going about their days. No one looked at us much; we were just a pair of guys walking through and underground tunnel. As we went I idly wondered how many, if any of these people could relate. Did any of them know what it was like? Or did they just go on, living their lives without any real problems, unable to imaging what terrible times Brian was going through? We walked on, not really talking much, certainly not about anything of any real importance, and Brian would usually just answer me with nods or a quiet "yeah" or "no". It was a bit disconcerting but I tried to act as supportive as I knew how. We stopped at some burger joint around one for lunch before heading outside to feed the Pokemon. We called them all out and laid out their food while we hung out near a tree. I noticed Snorlax wasn't eating much, which is something to really worry about with a Snorlax. Brian called him over and it sat down next to us.

"Snorlax," he said. "Aren't you hungry buddy?" Snorlax just groaned sadly and shook its head. Brian and I sat there for a minute or two trying to think of what to do or say. Brian finally spoke up again. "Snorlax, it wasn't your fault, okay? You were just defending me, and I want to thank you for that, okay? Maybe things got out of hand a little, but that's okay. I suspect that Mightyena is happier now than it ever could have been with such a bad trainer. I think, maybe, it was destiny, you know? You maybe did it a favor. So please don't do this, okay? Just eat something and don't worry about it, because I love you just as much." Snorlax looked really sad and upset still but it climbed to its feet and moved back over to where Brian had set out some food and it began to eat it. The other Pokemon all went over next to Snorlax and began talking to it. They conversed for a while, mostly though it was Ralts talking, no doubt offering some comfort, before all but Snorlax started walking around and stretching out. Ivysaur waited for a moment and looked back at Snorlax who was just sitting, staring at the ground. It reached out with one of its vines and patted Snorlax softly on the shoulder before moving away to go check out some flowers near another stand of trees. I reached over to Brian and clasped his shoulder with my left hand and squeezed a little bit. He glanced over and nodded with a sad, tiny smile. But it was a smile, and that was something. We called back our Pokemon after another ten minutes and made our way back into the tunnel.

_Brian:_

We re-entered the underground tunnel and began our journey southward once again. Phillip tried making idle chitchat but I just couldn't get into the mood for it. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I just couldn't accept it at the time. I mean, because of the battle we had, a Pokemon died. And there are no bad Pokemon, contrary to what some people think. Just bad trainers. That's what the Mightyena had; a bad trainers. That fool continued to battle after I gave him a chance to stop and run without any pursuit? It truly was his fault, if it was anyone's. But that wasn't what was on my mind at the time. I could only see images of the battle; Mightyena being smacked by Snorlax, being used as a shield from the flames; its desperate squeals and yelps as its flesh was burned off by the Flamethrower and the Hyper Beam. I can still, to this day, remember those eyes, full of pain; full of fear. Sometimes even now it's all I can do to keep from weeping. I think Phillip understood how I was feeling so he didn't try any kind of cheap lines about me being a good person or it not being my fault. He knew that would do nothing for me right now. Bless him. He was there though, doing what I think was best at the time; pretending nothing had happened. Later I would have to deal, to sort through it, but now was not that time, and he realized that. He was a good friend, no doubt about it. I wish I could tell you more about the rest of our journey south to Vermillion, but the fact is that nothing really happened. We just walked south through the tunnel, mostly in silence, stopping a few brief times to run into a restroom along the way or just resting out feet. The depression was pretty bad though; I would reach up to my face and feel that nasty scar with my fingertips and sometimes in my grief I would foolishly think that it would have been better if I had died in the cave. I was able to keep going, and being with Phillip and my Pokemon helped improve my attitude a little. We continued south until we reached the exit to Symphonia, a medium sized town about halfway from Saffron to Vermillion. Seeing that it was already seven p.m. we decided to stay at the Pokemon Center in Symphonia. We headed up the stairs of the exit to the west and walked the two miles to the town. The Pokemon Center was a little different than most we had been to; although it was just as modern inside as any other, on the outside it seemed like a huge log cabin. It was kind of a nice change for me; most Centers looked pretty much the same and the less like Saffron City's center that this one was could only be a good thing for my then fragile mindset. We walked through the doors and made our way up to the front counter, where we checked into a room. We made our way down the hall and up the stairs to our second floor room. We dropped all of our things on the floor and relaxed in the double set of reclining chairs. Phillip offered to turn on the TV and I said it was fine. I told him that I actually felt like watching something and I suppose he took that as a sign of improvement so he clicked it on and channel surfed for a while. He stopped at the same time that I told him to when we saw a new show on; an animated series based off these games we liked to play called Fire Emblem.

"Wow, Fire Emblem as an anime!" Phillip squealed with delight. I started to perk up a little. It helped me to forget about the last few days.

"Hey, that's pretty cool." I said softly. "Let's watch it." Phillip smiled.

"You couldn't pay me not to!" he yelled with a wide smile. We watched both episodes that were being shown over the next hour and I think we were both hooked. Phillip went to a TV Guide channel and we discovered that it was going to be on each Friday night like this at eight. We made the decision to try to plan our travel around it so we wouldn't miss any episode. What can I say; when you're a fan boy you go to crazy lengths. When the shows were over Phillip went to shower but I didn't feel like one myself so I just switched off most of the lights and crawled under the covers. I fell asleep pretty quickly but I woke up several times that night with the sound of Mightyena's howls in my head and heart.

At around five a.m. I awoke again. This was the fourth time that night I had awoken suddenly after still more bad dreams filled my sleep. Phillip was still asleep of course, so I very quietly pulled the sheets away from me and slowly stood up out of bed. I might have been able to fall asleep again but I didn't much care to have any more nightmares for a while to I decided just to stay up. I crept into the restroom and took a quick shower and changed into a clean set of clothes. I exited the restroom twenty minutes later and Phillip was still sleeping so I put on my shoes and silently left the room. It was still dark outside so there was no light shinning through the windows in the hall but the artificial lights more than compensated. I decided that I would go and use the public computer before getting breakfast so I headed up the stairs to the third floor and paced down the hall until I reached the computer room. This Pokemon Center had two computers and one of them was free so I sat down and logged on to the GTN. I pulled up my email account which had two new messages; one was from Nurse Joy back home and the other from Misty. _Oh boy,_ I thought with a sigh. _And life keeps getting better._ I opened up Nurse Joy's email and scanned it a couple of times.

"_Okay then, I think I understand. I won't try to talk you into coming back or anything, you need to do what you feel is right. Please, keep me posted and keep safe, okay?"_

_Always Thinking of You,  
Joy_

I wrote her back a little reply, explaining the last few days, save the business in Saffron. That was _not_ the kind of news she needed to hear about my journey so far. I sent the message and then took a deep breath before opening Misty's email. I was afraid of what I might find.

"_Brian, you have left me again. It's okay, I understand your reasons, you're just trying to protect me and take care of everything yourself. Thank you for caring so much, it makes me realize what a good decision I made, despite all the hardships. I know you and I realize that there is probably no use in trying to get you to come back to Cerulean, so please just do one thing for me; trust Phillip. He is as good a person as I think I've ever met, and I know he wants to help you out. Don't try to do everything for yourself, okay? You can't close yourself off to others. Please, keep in touch with me."_

_Love Always,  
Misty_

I allowed myself to breath a small sigh of relief since she didn't sound too crushed, which was what I had feared might happen. I wasn't sure if I could write back to her, but I felt that at least for her sake I needed to.

"_Misty, I knew you would understand. I promise you, I'll come back as soon as I can, but there are some things that I have to do first. Don't worry, everything is going fine."_

_Always With You,  
Brian_

_Everything's fine indeed,_ I thought angrily to myself, about ready to hit myself for lying to her. But how could I dump even more on her? No, there was no way. I knew she wanted me to, but there was no way I could have brought myself to doing it. That was the problem with stuff like this; there was just no way to get out and not hurt her. I left because it was the lesser of two evils. But then she had the worry and there really wasn't much I could do about it. I hopped around the net to a few of my more frequently visited sites and posted some chatty messages on a few boards but I wasn't really into all of it so I eventually just turned off the computer. I stood up from the chair and turned to leave. The other guy who had been on the other computer had left, who knows when, and the rest of the center was fairly quiet. It was almost six so I decided to head down to the cafeteria and pick up some breakfast. I exited the computer room, flipping off the lights as I walked through the doorway and headed down the stairs near there. I went all the way to the first floor and entered the nearly empty dinning area, smelling the aroma of eggs and pancakes cooking on the grills in the kitchen. I made my way over to the counter and ordered about everything they offered and took my seat at a table near a bunch of plants. I stared out of a window facing east back towards the tunnel as I waited for my food to arrive and suddenly I was joined by Phillip. I had been so lost in thought that Phillip actually sat down right across from me before I noticed him.

"Hey Brian, how are you?" he asked, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes a little. I shrugged.

"Okay I guess. I woke up a little while ago and surfed the net for a while but I got hungry so I came down here." He nodded.

"So you did sleep?" he questioned.

"Yeah, a little off and on. It's an improvement I guess." He nodded back at me.

"So, breakfast and then head out?" he asked.

"I guess so, we're only about a half a day away from Vermillion. I figure if we leave in about an hour we can make it there for lunch around one and then register. Round 1 of the tournament starts tomorrow." Phillip was silent for just a moment.

"Are you sure you still want to do the tournament? I mean," he chose his next words carefully. "Are you ready to battle?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? Tickets to Hoenn are expensive, and even though we could afford them if we loose it would be a big money saver. Not to mention the cash." Phillip gave me a 'come on now' look.

"What do you mean, 'why wouldn't I be?'? Are you kidding? Brian, this isn't something you can cover up."

"It is, like everything else. Look, there is a time and a place for everything, but right now is not a good time for guilt and dealing with personal problems. There will be a chance for me to break down later but right now we have things to do. So yes I'm ready, don't worry about me." Phillip looked at me oddly for a good few minutes before our food finally arrived, breaking the silence. The Chansey dropped the plates and drinks in front of us, and Phillip gave it a tip after seeing me back away from it a little bit.

"Okay then, if you say so Brian. I'll trust you on this." I nodded.

"Thank you." I told him sincerely. Trust was about the only thing I could ask from him right now. I really was feeling a lot better about myself, now that I had been allowed enough time to properly begin to suppress all the pain. It was a good defense mechanism, and it had worked in the past before. It was like I told him; there would be a time to sort everything out and work through the problems, but now was not that time. We had been careful enough not to be seen by anyone, or to make ourselves easy targets, but my dad's men had to be out there. I knew him and he would not let anything jeopardize him or his criminal activities, so the idea that he would simply let me go was ridiculous. I was worried that the televised tournament tomorrow would allow him to spot us, but he didn't watch a whole lot of TV and it was a one day event. He had never had a strong presence in Vermillion and so I figured by the time he could find out about it and get people over there we would be on a boat headed for another continent. We finished up our huge breakfasts; we wanted to make sure we wouldn't get too hungry and have to stop along the way for lunch. We picked up our plates and dropped them off by the counter and headed back to the room to pack up. I took a quick shower since I hadn't felt like one last night and gathered up all my possessions. We left the room after doing a pretty bad job of making it look like a hurricane hadn't come through. I guess we were both just messy people. I think I still am, for my part. We walked down the stairs and arrived at the front desk to turn in our room key. Nurse Joy took it and wished us both luck before we left the center. Outside it was about seven a.m. and the Pidgey were chirping all around the city. It was a nice autumn morning but it was a little bit too humid still since we were getting nearer to the cost line. We made our way back east and entered the underground tunnel once again, putting Symphonia to our backs. The tunnel, by the time we reached it, was just coming to life. It was a Friday so there were far more shoppers and tourists and the like than on the other weekdays, although me and Phillip both agreed we weren't trying to travel through here on the weekend. The thought made us shiver. We had gotten about a mile down the tunnel when business really started to pick up and in some parts, especially nearer to the exits the foot traffic was really horrendous, and we would have to walk single file for a time. We took a quick five minute break for our legs and feet after about an hour of walking and a keychain vendor with a cart ambushed us. We could see he wasn't going to leave quietly so we each bought one. Phillip got this awesome little Zangoose one that you could squeeze and the eyes would pop out. It was fantastic.

"That is the greatest thing I have ever seen!" Phillip chuckled.

"That is pretty awesome." I agreed. I almost bought one too but I decided on a Vaporeon. I planned to mail it back to Misty as soon as I had the opportunity. The vendor thanked us and moved along to harass some other tunnel-trekker. We each bought a bottle of water from a nearby drug store before continuing our travel down the tunnel. We walked past shops and shoppers of all variety. We happened to be passing by a department store just as an employee put out a sign that said "50 OFF EVERYTHING" in big, bold, all capital letters. It was all Phillip and I could do to keep from being trampled by a mob of women. We dashed out of the mob's path and continued down the corridor, trying to stay away from large groups of people.

"How come the stores with anime and manga never put out signs like that?" Phillip asked a little sadly. Around noon we began seeing little signs that were pointing south and informing us that Vermillion City was coming up. We continued south and at long last we reached the end of the tunnel and the exit into Vermillion City.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

We made our way up the stairs and out of the bustling tunnel and into an even more bustling city. It wasn't quite as massive or breathtaking like Saffron, a city of massive skyscrapers, had been but it was a really big city none the less. It was a bit more open to the world and you felt like you were outside instead of in a building like in the streets of Saffron, and you could smell the fresh sea air, even though we were a good several miles from the coast. It was a city of bike-riders and skate-boarders so pollution had not tarnished its air. After we exited the tunnel and checked our map we took Raichu Road to the south and then hung a right when we reached Ocean Avenue. We continued heading west on this street until we came to the Pokemon Center, which looked about the same as all the others. We walked in through the glass doors and were met with a bustling crowd of trainers and reporters and just about every other kind of person you could think of that might ever be in a Pokemon Center. We were taken aback by all the activity; it was a whole lot more busy in this Center than any other we had ever been in. We squirmed and squeezed through the throng of people in the lobby and made our way finally over to the front desk. Nurse Joy was behind it looking as calm as could be considering the crazy din that was her Center lobby.

"Welcome to the Vermillion City Pokemon Center! Are you here to register for the Teams Tournament?" she asked us loudly, straining to be heard over the dull roar of the mass of people. Phillip got a semi-shocked look on his face.

"Wait, is registration here?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Yes it sure is. The stadium is closed for final preparations right now so they are holding the registration here at the Center." Phillip and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"Great, saves us a trip somewhere else. We would both like to enter." He told her. She smiled.

"Wonderful. I'll need your trainer cards and Pokemon please." She informed us. We complied by handing them all over. "One moment." She said in a raised voice. Was the crowd actually getting louder? Sheesh. Nurse Joy disappeared into the back room and emerged a few minutes later and began typing on her computer. After another minute or two we were registered. Nurse Joy handed back our cards and Pokemon and then handed us several papers. "Okay these are the rules and other important information; you should take some time to familiarize yourself with them before the tournament tomorrow." We both nodded and thanked her. We checked into a room and she handed us the key. We turned and were about to leave when she called us. "You, you're Brian right?" she asked me with a small smile.

"Yes, that's my name," I replied. "Anything I can…do for you?" She shook her head.

"Oh no, not at all. I heard about you from my sister. She had very high praise of your skills. She is very worried about you, but I'm sure she would love to know that you are competing tomorrow."

"Oh I see," I said with a nod. "Maybe I'll call her then." Nurse Joy smiled.

"I hope you will," She smiled brightly at us. "Good luck you two, we will both be pulling for you tomorrow."

"Thank you so much. It helps to know we have fans out there." Phillip told her with a grin.

"Yes, thank you." I echoed. We left the desk and headed up to our second story room. We dropped our bags onto the floor and I flopped into a chair while Phillip fell onto his bed. We idly discussed the crowd outside and how we thought it was funny that he automatically took the left side bed and I always took the right side bed. Before long we got hungry and decided to head down to the center's cafeteria for some lunch. We locked up the room and walked down the steps. We took the hallway on the first floor to the left instead of right, which would lead us back to the zoo that was the lobby. We reached the cafeteria and stood in the doorway staring at the mob that was there. It seemed to be even larger, if that was possible. There were people everywhere and there wasn't a free table in the whole place. Some trainers were even eating while sitting on the floor. When I say it was packed, I mean it was busting at the seems.

"Holy…" Phillip gasped in a low voice.

"You've gotta be kidding…" I agreed in a whisper. We knew there was no way we were going to eat there so we made our way back down the hallway and out through the multitude of people in the lobby and eventually up ended back on Ocean Avenue. We didn't know where to go exactly so we, being men of course, decided that a map was beneath us and opted instead to wander around in no particular direction until we found a place to eat. We headed west and after a while we reached Sea Breeze street and decided to head south on it. We finally came upon El Pollo de Cabeza Grande, a nice looking if oddly named Mexican restaurant and decided to eat there. It was really a nice place inside; there were beautiful murals painted all over the walls and Hispanic themed decorations all over the place. And of course there was the music. Can't eat Mexican food without proper music now can you? We were seated at a small corner table and our waiter brought us a bowl of chips and some cheap sauce and took our drink orders. I asked for Coke and so did Phillip upon learning that the place didn't carry Root Beer.

"Awww…why do so many place not have Root Beer?" Phillip asked glumly after the waiter had left.

"I don't know, maybe because it's gross?" I replied sarcastically. Phillip gasped.

"What are you saying, are you crazy? Root Beer owns!" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you say." I told him, dropping the subject. We chatted about various things before our drinks arrived and ordered food and an appetizer bowl of Chile con Queso to hold us over until the meal arrived. It was now almost two in the afternoon and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. We munched on chips and cheese until our food finally arrived. The waiter dropped a steaming plate in front of me; three cheese enchiladas with tons of rice. No beans, who liked beans anyway? But rice, oh yes. And with a little queso dribbled on top? Most defiantly. Phillip had ordered chicken and beef fajitas and the choking smoke that came with them. But it was okay, I was too busy drooling over my own stuff to notice. We dug in and didn't say a word to each other for a good ten minutes while we chowed down. After we had finished the main course it was time for dessert of course; flan. Oh yes, yes indeed. Hispanic people are some of the smartest in the world if you ask me. I savored every bite of the sugary delight as it slipped down my throat and I thought for a moment that I might need to be anchored down so I wouldn't float away. We finished that too and Phillip pulled out the papers that Nurse Joy had given to us.

"Okay, let's check these out," Phillip said, looking at a blue one on top. "Ah, okay, here are the rules." He told me.

"One second," I said, stopping him. The waiter was walking by. "Señor!" I called him. He turned around and I held up the bowl at him. "Màs tostadas, por favor!" He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. "Okay, you were saying?" I said, turning my attention back to Phillip.

"Right," he said. "It seems that this one is a little different from the Viridian City one we watched a while ago." I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well in that one you picked one Pokemon for each trainer and that was the pair you used for the whole tourney right?" I nodded. "Well in this one you can use up to three different Pokemon each. Only one per trainer per battle, of course, but each battle you can use a different Pokemon, but not more than three different ones, see?" I nodded.

"Oh I get it. Hey that's cool, we each have three."

"Right," he answered with a nod. The chips arrived then.

"Graciàs." I thanked the waiter.

"Dè nada." He answered brusquely before walking off. I picked up a chip and tossed it into my mouth. Phillip continued.

"So, we need to figure out which combinations we should use, you know? Plan out what we need to do. Of course we can always change it last second if they allow us to call second." I nodded.

"There is one bad thing we need to keep in mind though." I told him.

"Really, what?" he asked. I swallowed the chips I had been chewing and took a swig of Coke.

"Half of our Pokemon are part Flying-type. Electric, Rock and Ice types are going to be real trouble for us." Phillip nodded, concerned.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "Okay, well we need to make sure we don't use two Flyers at the same time then. That means, let's see…" he trailed off, thinking.

"Well I have two of the flyers. That means that my two flyers team with your two non-flyers. Golbat and Scyther with Ralts and Ivysaur, respectively." He nodded in agreement.

"Right. Okay, also, Ivysaur and Scyther shouldn't be on the same team, that's two fire-weak Pokemon. So…"

"So that means Scyther and Ralts, Golbat and Ivysaur and Snorlax and Pidgeotto then." He nodded.

"Sounds good." We started to discuss the remaining weaknesses of the teams. "Now remember that Ivysaur and Golbat are also both Poison, so we then have to watch out for Psychic."

"That's true," I replied. "But Psychic types are pretty rare so it may not be a big deal. Plus Golbat knows Bite and Confuse Ray so he can at least put up a decent effort if it came to that."

"Right," Phillip replied. "Is there something we are forgetting? Pidgeotto's Flying-Type means that that team isn't totally weak to Fighting. Scyther and Ralts seems like it should work okay," he seemed to be getting more confident but then suddenly something struck him. "Oh man." He groaned.

"What? What is it?" I asked him. He slapped his forehead.

"We are going to be destroyed if we face a Steel-Type. Steel is resistant to everyone we have!" I waved him off.

"Bah, Steel is an even more rare type than Psychic. I doubt we will have to face it. But even if we do it'll be okay." He cocked and eyebrow at me.

"Are you kidding? There is no way we could take out Steel-types. We have Grass and Psychic, Normal and Flying and Poison. Oh brother, poison! What are we gonna do?"

"Relax," I told him as he started to sweat. "This is what we're going to do." I told him my plan. He looked at me strangely for a moment after hearing it.

"What, really? How long did that take you?" He asked me. I sighed.

"Almost a whole year. But it has helped me in the past." He nodded.

"Okay then but that is our only chance, you know? It's a long shot." I nodded.

"Yeah, but what else are we going to do?" He nodded. We chomped on more chips for a while we reviewed the other papers about pairings and other technical stuff. It was mostly basic stuff that we both knew but we wanted to make sure that there would be no surprises. We were both stuffed full like…well…like piñatas from all the Mexican food so I called the waiter over and asked for the check. We paid the bill and then headed out of the restaurant and back towards the Pokemon Center. The city was warm and fairly quiet. It was about four in the afternoon now, so we were after the heavy noon-time traffic of people going to lunch and yet we were still a bit to early for rush hour as people began the commute home after work. We reached the Pokemon Center and went inside, preparing ourselves for the mob. But to our surprise and relief, the crowd of people had dissipated considerably. Nurse Joy told us that registration had been closed for an hour so most people had left the lobby area. We made our way up the flight of stairs halfway down the hall and went into our room, crashing onto various pieces of furniture in exhaustion from the walking combined with all the food. We kind of dozed and relaxed there for an hour or so, not really talking but just kind of resting our minds and bodies. Around five thirty Phillip reminded me that we needed to feed the Pokemon at some point soon so we got up and left the room. We headed down the stairs and exited to the outside where there was a fenced in area with a pool and a whole lot of trees and bushes and flowers of all different kinds. It was a really nice place and we were shocked to discover that the place was totally empty. We called out all of our Pokemon and began preparing the food as the hung out or ran around the place.

_Phillip:_

I was busy rummaging through my backpack and pulling out bowls and food for my Pokemon when Brian came up next to me and handed me a Tupperware container with something in it that I didn't recognize. I popped the lid open and inside was what looked like a bunch of little brown pieces of kibble. They were brown and had tiny specs of color here and there.

"What's this?" I asked Brian, holding the container towards him.

"That," he began. "Is Ralts Pokemon food. You asked me to make something for her right?" I nodded.

"Oh cool, I had forgotten about it. Thanks a lot." I turned around and searched for Ralts. I spotted her near a bed of flowers. "Ralts, come here! Brian made you something to eat!" Ralts looked over in our direction when it heard its name and came over to us. "Here you go." I said gently, handing the little container to her. She held it in her little hands curiously and then took a seat on the ground and placed it in front of her. She picked up a piece of the food and nibbled a little bit on it. After a second or two she took another nibble, then a large bite and then he popped the whole piece into her mouth with a smile.

"Ralts!" she said happily before she began eating the food fairly quickly.

"Wow, looks like you did it Brian. She seems to really like it a lot!" I complimented him after telling Ralts to slow down and actually chew the stuff. She really liked it a lot.

"Awesome. Then I guess you might want these too!" Brian fished around in his backpack for a moment and then produced two more Tupperware containers. He handed them to me. "Ivysaur," he told me, pointing to one of them. "And Pidgeotto." He said, pointing to the other container. I peeled off the lids and served up the homemade food to my Pokemon. They all seemed to be enjoying it more than anything I had ever bought for them.

"Man Brian, you have some skills!" I said, impressed. "Thanks a whole bunch." He shook his head.

"No, thank you for letting your Pokemon be the guinea pigs." I nodded. "I think maybe I'll make a bunch more of this stuff and we can save a ton of money on food." He said, pondering the possibilities.

"That sounds like a plan to me." I replied enthusiastically. I continued to set out dishes and bowls of water for all of our Pokemon as he continued to dig around in his bags, every now and then coming up with another batch of food for one of them. They all began eating and Brian and I sat down by each other on a small bench near the building and he pulled out a recipe book he was working on and started showing me stuff and explaining things that I didn't understand. But he seemed pretty knowledgeable about all of it and he also appeared to be really excited when he talked about it so I figured that my Pokemon would be in good hands with his cooking. After a while though he fell silent and started staring off towards the Pokemon. "Hey, Brian? Are you in there?" I asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Of course I am, what, do you think I'd just fall asleep sitting her or something?" he replied, pushing my hand away. "Give me a minute, there's something I gotta do." He stood up and made his way towards the group of Pokemon and walked up to where Snorlax was resting on the ground. He told it to get up and follow him and his Pokemon obeyed. They walked away from everything else and took seats across from each other under a big old oak tree well out of earshot from all of us. Ivysaur came over to where I was relaxing on the bench and lay down on the ground next to me. I reached down and rubbed his head a little but didn't say anything. I was busy watching Brian and Snorlax conversing over by the tree, and although I couldn't hear what was being said, I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Snorlax needed to be ready tomorrow for the tournament and it wouldn't be able to battle very well if it was still upset about what had happened in Saffron. After about fifteen minutes the sun started to set so I recalled all my Pokemon and stood up preparing to head back into the Pokemon Center. I wondered if I should say anything to Brian or tell him where I was going but I decided against it and just walked back into the center and up the stairs to our room. I took a seat on the edge of my bed and unclipped and pulled off my belt, setting it on the table beside me. Nothing big or horrible had happened during the day, but we had walked a lot and it had been a long one none the less. I snagged a change of clothes from my pack and headed for the shower. When I exited the restroom Brian was relaxing in one of the recliners with his feet propped up on the coffee table, watching some anime on the TV.

"Yo," I said, still drying my hair with the towel. "What's on?" He turned and looked at me with big, happy eyes.

"Escaflowne the movie!" he cried quickly before snapping his head back to the TV, not wanting to miss a second of the action.

"Oh," I responded. "I've seen that before. Pretty good." He nodded.

"This is my eighteenth time seeing it." I looked at him incredulously.

"Eighteen? Seriously? Sheesh…I've never met such a big Escaflowne fanboy before." I joked. He nodded again, too busy being absorbed into the movie to respond more than that. I crashed on my bed and pulled out the issue of Eyeshield 21 I was in the middle of and read that while he was watching his movie. I just love Sena and Hiruma, they're such awesome characters. I finished the volume right around the time the credits for Escaflowne started rolling, so I shoved the book back into my pack and turned over as Brian lowered himself into his bed.

"Night." He said.

"Night." I replied just before he switched off the lights.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_Brian:_

I slept well that night, thank goodness. No nightmares or bad dreams of any kind. I did dream that Phillip and I were on top of a giant clock that was floating in a bowl of soup and Nurse Joy was throwing broccoli at us. Don't ask, your guess is as good as mine, I assure you. At any rate, my alarm went off at four a.m. Normally it's unheard of, perhaps even criminal of me to get up that early, but I wanted to make sure we arrived on time and had no problems with anything along the way. Today was the day of the Vermillion City Teams Tournament and when I compete in something I compete to win. But it was early; really, really early. I kind of rolled over and fell out of bed, then crawled toward the bathroom door. Phillip's Ralts was out of its ball sleeping near a chair. It opened its eyes in time to see me crawling over to it, hair a mess and with dark circles under my eyes, and moaning like some zombie that had just clawed its way out of the earth. I believe I startled it, judging from the way it shrieked and jumped on top of Phillip, causing him to wake up with a yelp, getting his legs tangled in the sheets and having him come crashing out of his bed. It would have been funny if he hadn't landed on top of me.

"Oh geeze, my…my spine…" I wheezed.

"What…where…what's going on?" he cried, clawing at the sheets to get them off of him while climbing off me and trampling me at the same time. It hurt; a lot.

"My arm…" I gasped. Phillip helped me up and held the vibrating Ralts. He petted it to try to calm it down.

"Just what's going on? What happened?" he asked me, confused. I rubbed my arm, which was sore from Phillip smashing it.

"I think I scared Ralts," I answered with a shrug. "I didn't mean to but it seemed pretty scared." Phillip nodded.

"Ah, I see," he replied, stroking Ralts' head. "It's alright Ralts, Brian isn't really a horrible monster…he just looks that way is all."

"Hey…" I said, narrowing my eyes. We dropped it though and I managed to take a shower and brush my teeth without falling back to sleep. Phillip did after me while I packed up what I needed for the tournament. I gathered up our registration papers and the rules and guidelines, checked our supplies and finally sat down to rest for a minute about two seconds before Phillip emerged from the shower. "Nice timing…" I grumbled.

"Hm? What?" he asked. I waved my hand dismissively.

"Nah, nothing. Let's get going." He shrugged.

"Alright, breakfast first?" he asked.

"I sure hope so," I responded, starving. "But is the Center's cafeteria even open now? It's like fifteen 'till five in the morning. No one should ever be up this early." He held up his hands.

"Like I know. There's only one way to find out, right?" I nodded and we left the room. We headed for the cafeteria, expecting it to be empty and dark at this horrible hour, but to our surprise it was absolutely teeming with people. I don't think we could have gotten a seat if we were famous actors.

"I…I guess they're open…" I commented uselessly.

"I think you might be right." Phillip agreed stupidly. We decided rather quickly that it'd be best to try to find somewhere less crowded to eat. "So…where do you wanna eat?" Phillip asked me once we had stepped outside the Pokemon Center.

"How about that Mexican place again?" I suggested, my eyes no doubt full of stars. I could just taste the sweet flan in my mouth. Phillip gave me a funny look.

"Mexican for breakfast? Seriously? Nah man I want something else…pancakes or something…" he replied and started off down the street.

"I bet they eat Mexican food for breakfast in Mexico…" I pouted. I caught up with him and we just strolled around for a while until we found a pancake house. Wasn't really a house of course, just a restaurant. I always did wonder why they called them houses, no one actually lived there. I decided that it didn't make any difference once I bit into the food though. Oh man; I added it to my mental list of "Companies and Stores to Buy if I Ever Get Rich." We were wolfing down our food when someone called us from a few tables over.

"Hey you two, you might want to slow down before you choke or something." The kid said with a chuckle. I looked over and sized him up. Black hair and brown eyes, maybe five foot eight inches or so. His skin was a little too dark and even for it to be thought of as a tan, he was obviously someone of Hispanic descent. Brown baggy shorts, sneakers and a plain white t-shirt that was covered by a sleeveless black vest were all topped off by Vermillion Surge baseball team cap. He was finishing up a plate of just about everything I think.

"Uh yeah…sure…" I responded warily. I wasn't one who just talked like this to people I didn't know at all so I wasn't sure what to make of the guy. "We're in a bit of a rush though."

"Is that so?" he asked. "You heading over to the Team Tournament or something?" he questioned. I nodded.

"Yeah, we have to be there in an hour, so we have to finish up here pretty quickly." He looked at us with a puzzled expression.

"Why so early? It doesn't even start for another two and a half hours." Phillip shrugged.

"They told us to get there early for check-in, extra paperwork and stuff like that." He explained. The kid did a double take and looked like he was about to fall out of his chair.

"Wait…wait you mean you two are _in_ the tournament?" he gasped. I was taken aback.

"Uh…yeah," I answered him. "Is that like, special?" he stood up suddenly and came over right next to me.

"Of course it is! That means you two must be great trainers!" he wailed.

"Well you know…" I started to reply with a bit of a cocky look crossing my face.

"We registered early, so we didn't have to go through the qualifier battle." Phillip cut in and explained, ruing my fun. I let him know I wasn't happy with him by sending him a sour look.

"Oh I see now," the kid said with a nod, backing off a little. "Makes sense now, okay then. Sorry to bother you." I grabbed his arm before he could walk off.

"Hold on a second there, Jack." I said.

"My name isn't Jack, its Adam." He shot at me.

"Whatever, Adam then," I shot back. "Are you saying that we aren't capable trainers or something?" he shook his arm free of my grip.

"I didn't say anything like that dude," he responded. "I'm just wondering why you guys made sure you registered early and didn't have to participate in the trials."

"Listen you…" I started before Phillip cut me off.

"Because if we had participated in the trials then there is no telling what might have happened," he answered. "You can't know how anything would have turned out. We have confidence that we would have won, but what if one of our Pokemon was injured in the process? We would be at a disadvantage today in the actual tournament. So if anything it was sound strategy and not cowardice." I nodded.

"Yes! Yes that's good!" I looked at Phillip and nodded some more. "That's really, really good!" He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"You aren't helping, Brian…" he mumbled. Adam spoke up.

"Well I saw you two yesterday at my family's restaurant talking about strategy, but I couldn't hear much. I didn't know you were actually in the tournament," he held out his hand to me. "Sorry if it seemed like I was being rude and questioning you're ability. I'm just skeptical some times like that." I decided to be civil and shook his hand.

"Don't take our word for it. You can apologize later after we win it," I told him, not able to get the smugness out of my voice completely. Then my mind fully registered what he had said. "Wait…your family's restaurant? You mean the Mexican place we were at yesterday? Your family owns that place?" he cocked an eyebrow and nodded at me.

"Uh, yeah," he answered slowly. I must have had a rather frightening look on my face. Sort of like a drooling, rabid dog I imagine. I'm big on Mexican food.

"Wow," I whispered, my eyes full of stars no doubt. "That must mean you can eat there whenever you want. What are you doing here eating then?" Adam looked at me like I was crazy.

"Mexican food for _breakfast_? You have to be kidding. That sounds gross man." He responded. Phillip cleared his throat quietly and got a totally smug look on his face.

"Oh shut up." I told him, shooting him a half angry, half pouty look.

"Anyway," Adam started in again. "I have some things I have to do before the tournament. You two are Brian and…who?"

"Phillip," Phillip answered. Adam nodded.

"Brian and Phillip. Okay, I'll cheer for you from the stands. Good luck guys."

"Thanks." I responded. He nodded and walked off and out the door.

"Well," I said. "That was odd and distracting. Let's just finish eating and get out of here." Phillip still had that smug look on his face.

"Really Brian," he chuckled. "Mexican for breakfast. What _were_ you thinking anyway?" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." He continued to tease me as we ate of course. Never fails, really. We called for the check when we were done and after I figured what we each owed and the tip we slapped the money down on the table and headed for the door. We had to be at the registration table line in a half hour and it was a thirty-five minute walk to the stadium; needless to say we ran; really fast. I swear, I _try_ to plan ahead for these things and it just never works out. Four in the morning I woke up, and it sill wasn't enough. Next time I just won't go to sleep at all. We made it with about six minutes to spare, thank goodness. The line was short, mostly, we figured, because the rest of the trainers were smart enough to show up early enough to not have to run. We did make it though and got registered and our Pokemon checked out. We were ushered into a big locker room type of place where most of the other trainers were waiting. No one had their Pokemon out or anything of course; no need to let the competition see what's coming. I took the key out of my pocket that the registrar had given us and checked the number on it. We walked around and found the locker we had been assigned and opened it and stored our extra stuff and packs in it. It was a pretty big locker, just like the room itself. The roof was one of those almost semi-dome things; half of it was standard construction and flat, but the other half was sort of curved and with giant glass windows, allowing light to fill the room. We sat on one of the benches and watched a jumbotron screen to wait for the pairings to come up.

"Hey! Hey Brian! How are you?" came a familiar female voice to my right. I looked over and saw Christina standing near us smiling. I smiled back and sat up a little straighter.

"Hey there, Christina. How are you? And what are you doing in here? Are you in the tournament too?" She nodded.

"That's right, I sure am. I got into town yesterday and managed to register early so I didn't have to go through the qualifiers." She told us.

"Ha, yeah that's what we did too," I told her with a laugh. "Guess that makes us just as lazy, huh?" She cocked an eye at me and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you mean 'lazy' huh?" she asked. "Say what you want but I'm going to go with 'sound strategy' thank you very much!" Phillip shoved me.

"We're going with that too, remember Brian?" he reminded me. I waved them both off.

"I know, I know," I smiled. "I'm just kidding guys, don't hurt me." Christina just shook her head.

"Oh I'm afraid it's far too late for that now Brian," she told me in a low, dangerous voice. "I'll see you on the battlefield and show you just how lazy I am." I gulped.

"That's right, go get 'em!" Phillip cheered. I shot him a half-angry half-shocked look.

"What are you saying? She'll be getting you too! Just who's side are you on, _partner_?" Phillip shrugged.

"The side that doesn't incur the wrath of women, _partner_." He informed me with a smile.

"Well she isn't really like…_angry _or anything…are you?" I asked Christina, shooting her a toothy smile. She just shrugged.

"Oh no, I'm not angry. That's doesn't mean I won't beat you two senseless today though." She told me with a wink.

"Ha, well…we'll just…uh…we'll just see about that!" I replied loudly. She just smiled.

"Sure thing Brian. Well, I'm going to go check over my things one last time. Jan e!" she said before walking off. Phillip shook his head.

"We'll see about that? Was that the best you could come up with? I mean…it was kind of lame man." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, I didn't see you saying anything better. Forget it, they're announcing the first round now." I said, looking up at the big screen on the wall. There were actually two battlefields in the one arena, so they would be holding two battles at once. The first match on field A was between a couple brothers, Steve and Craig, and a couple sisters, Iris and Katie. On battlefield B was Gregory and Max against Phillip and myself.

"Eh? Us already? Well, let's get going then." Phillip said, a little surprised. I shrugged and headed with Phillip to the arena entrance. Christina waved at us from her locker.

"Ganbatte you two!" she called with a wave. I waved back.

"Sure thing!" Phillip looked at me with a funny face.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese Brian. I'm impressed." I chuckled.

"Please, I know like, six words. I can say "Good Morning" but not hello at other times of the day, so I'm screwed if I meet someone in the afternoon." I explained. We both fell silent as we passed through the stone archway and stepped into the bowl-shaped arena. The place was packed an loud, and Phillip and I got a round of boos as we took our place at one end of the battlefield when we were announced.

"Nice…" Phillip groaned. "They would pair us up against a couple of home-town favorites.

"Oh well, doesn't matter. We'll shut them up when we win." I told him. Our opponents came onto the field, waving at the cheering crowd and all the swooning women. Phillip and I both rolled our eyes.

"Give me a break," He sighed. "Well anyway, who's up first?" I thought for a moment.

"Well…we don't know who they have of course, so anyone is as good as anyone else right now really. So let's go with…Golbat and Ivysaur." I told him, sounding confident despite the fact that I was picking randomly.

"Well okay, guess any team is as good as any other right now." He agreed. He looked over at me then. "So, you think we can actually pull it off? I mean, there are a lot of other people in this tournament. Can we actually do this?" I was silent for just a moment.

"Who knows? One thing is for sure though, we're here now and there is no room for error and no room for doubt. We'll either succeed or fail, so the only thing is to try our best." He nodded.

"Okay, let's do it then." The announcer's voice boomed over the speakers and announced the start of the first round. The two home-grown idiots tossed out their Pokemon; a Sandslash and a Fearow. I nodded at Phillip and we both tossed out our Pokeballs. We actually had the advantage just looking at the type matchups, since Ivysaur is a Grass type against the Ground type Sandslash. It couldn't be that easy though, or at least we couldn't let our guard down thinking that way. We didn't have any time to talk it over though, Gregory suddenly had his Sandslash use Dig and the match had begun.

"Golbat, use Confuse Ray on Fearow!" I commanded. Golbat's eyes flashed and the air became wavy. I looked away a bit when I started feeling a little woozy. Fearow was taking the brunt of the attack. Before long it was flapping around and squawking like a total fool. I used the moment to call for a Wing Attack, and Golbat complied, striking Fearow with its wings hard. The big bird took a dive and headed straight for the ground, about ready to crash before it managed to flap and right itself a bit. I was starting to feel a little confident about our chances when Ivysaur cried out, struck by Sandslash from underneath. I had totally forgotten about the Sandslash for the moment. Ivysaur flipped through the air but landed on its feet as Phillip called for a Vine Whip. Ivysaur lashed out with its vines and ensnared the Sandslash, then flipped it up into the air like a catapult. It landed with a crash on the battlefield some ways away, sending a cloud of dust up in the sky. I thought for sure it would be down but tiny stars of brilliant light came zinging out of the dust cloud and struck Golbat as Gregory ordered Sandslash to use Swift. Golbat was nimble but it wasn't able to avoid the super-fast attack at all and the little stars of energy cut tiny lines of red across Golbat's body. I heard Phillip call for a Razor Leaf to try to interrupt the attack but Ivysaur instead had to dodge out of the way of the now-recovered Fearow.

"Sandslash, use Dig again!" I heard Gregory call from across the field.

"_Blast!"_ I thought to myself_. "I can't take care of Fearow and just forget about the Sandslash, Ivysaur will take another hit from Sandslash, it can't fly away from it like Golbat can."_ Suddenly an idea struck me. _"That's it! Well, it's worth a try at least."_ I called over to Phillip. "Phillip, use the vines! Golbat's legs!" I told him. He must have been thinking the same thing about Sandslash's Dig attack because he understood what I was saying instantly.

"Ivysaur, use Vine Whip on Golbat to grab on to its legs!" Phillip ordered. Ivysaur shot out its vines and wrapped one around each of Golbat's legs then reeled itself up into the sky and away from the ground just as Sandslash burst through the ground where Ivysaur had been a moment ago. It had saved Ivysaur from Sandslash but there was still Fearow to worry about, and Golbat was too bogged down with Ivysaur's weight to dodge anything. Max realized this and smiled.

"Fearow, give that Golbat a Drill Peck!" he yelled at it. The Fearow came screeching in like a banshee and all I could do was flinch as I thought it was about to land a huge hit. Instead I heard Phillip scream at Ivysaur.

"Quick, Stun Spore!" I looked up and saw Ivysaur flip with its vines like a gymnast and aim its flower towards the Fearow. Golden dust sprayed everywhere in the air and the charging Fearow didn't have a chance at stopping its attack. It flew right into the dust and began hacking and convulsing. Its muscles began to go weak from the Stun Spore's effect and soon it couldn't move its wings any more and plummeted to the ground, landing with a horrible crash. When the dust settled the giant turkey was lying on the ground, unconscious and unmoving. Gregory didn't miss a beat and called for another Swift attack. It was all he could do really; he wasn't going to give up, but he had a Ground Pokemon against a Flying type and a Grass type. Those are not very good odds for any battle. The Swift attack was just as fast as the first one, and it caught Golbat and Ivysaur as they flew through the sky. However, we were right over the Sandslash now and Phillip called for a Headbutt. Ivysaur released its grip on Golbat and went diving through the air like a missile. It must have looked impressive, like a bomber plan dropping a payload onto its target, because the crowd started oooing and ahhing. Sandslash stopped its attack, presumably to get out of the way, but it was too late for that. Ivysaur crashed head-first into it and sent it sprawling back across the field. It got up and wobbled around like it wanted to keep going, Gregory telling it to come back. Phillip decided to oblige it and called for a Razor Leaf. The sharp leaves slammed into it and even though Sandslash had some tough skin this attack was too much for it to endure head-on. It collapsed to the ground and the referee called the match over, and Phillip and I had one the first round battle. The crowd was really going and cheered us on, even though we had beaten up on their home-town boys. Phillip and I exchanged hi-fives and then withdrew our Pokemon back to their balls. We trudged across the field to meet Gregory and Max and shook their hands.

"Good battle guys, thanks a lot." I told them. Gregory nodded.

"It was, I had a good time. You two had better keep advancing, if you loose it will make us look even worse!" he joked.

"Sure thing," Phillip assured him. "We came to win." We waved and then turned our backs to them and headed back for the locker room, or at least the locker room we were in. Turns out there were more than one. Christina was waiting for us when we got back.

"I knew you guys could do it! Congrats." She said with a smile. I nodded.

"Thanks, but that was just round one, and not to brag but they weren't the toughest trainers I've ever battled before. We can't get big heads now." I told her.

"I know I know, sheesh, lighten up a little Brian." She giggled. She looked over at the big screen. "I'm up next, wish me luck you two!" she told us.

"Good luck!" Phillip and I said in unison. She smiled and then walked off towards the arena. Phillip and I took Ivysaur and Golbat to the Pokemon Center area they had set up in the back of the locker room to get them checked out. They were obviously a little roughed up but they were both given the green light to keep going in the tournament. Phillip and I decided that we would still give them a rest next round anyway.

"Let's go watch the next round." I suggested, pointing to the battles that were about to begin on the big screen.

"Yeah, lets." He agreed. We strolled over to a bench that had a good view of the screen and waited for our next time up.


End file.
